For crying out loud!

Saturday afternoon, I attend the garage and read while my youngest daughter plays with the neighbor girl. It’s all the suburban utopia that you are aware of. People are doing yard work, guys working on their hobbies, kids playing... etc. The wife is at a water polo tournament with our middle daughter, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and something is about to break. I can feel it!

Not on my watch, but it happened on my watch

It’s the perfect storm, and I have no idea it’s coming. The weekend was off to a great start as I fiddled around in the garage and started reading a book. The neighbor’s daughter across the street was outside, and my daughter wanted to ride her push-bike with her. I agreed and walked her across the street. Suburbia is such a strange place. The rules are different than what I am used to, and neighbors always seem nice enough. On the surface, it all seems so benign and wholesome. But! There always seems to be something about it that has got under my skin through the years. It’s deceptive. Suburbia can’t be trusted. Because just around the corner (in my mind anyway), there is “something” waiting to happen. And it usually does. I don’t sit in dread, but I know the possibilities.

Oh, snap!

Sitting, reading comfortably, I hear the cry of cries that no parent wants to hear. My daughter’s voice travels from across the street and burrows into my skull. It’s the kind of cry that tells your parental-senses that there is something genuinely wrong and not just the normal wail of a young child. And, yes, they do wail for seemingly innocuous reasons.

This time though, it seems justified as I rush out of the garage to find my daughter folded up in her push-bike with the neighbor girl standing next to her with a confused look on her face, and my daughter calms as I come closer, saying that her head hurts. I suspect a concussion and gather her up and take her inside.

Tough stuff

At that moment, I do all the things that a dad should be doing as I get her blanket, some stuffed animal (Whalie), and make her comfortable on the couch. I call my wife and exclaim, “This had to happen on my watch!”, it is “all about me,” of course! As I talk to my wife, I see that my daughter is beginning to shake. It seems that she is going into shock, and now I start to panic. My wife on the phone, who is not seeing what I am seeing, says, “She’ll be fine.” and I let her know that she is not “fine” as I begin to pack up her things and take her to the emergency room.

The drive

The drive is congested. Fuck sake! I hate California some days. Of all the Saturdays, this the day that all the roads to the hospital are congested with my fellow Home Depot-loving-suburbanites. There is a narrow corridor, and I am limited to three roads as I choose the lesser of the three evils. I push my way through and go around a few cars and get yelled at a few times. A few more honks, and I am pinned in as someone lurches out in front of me. I have to admit that I am panicking as I roll down my window and apologize to a guy. I try to explain that my daughter is hurt and that I am going to the hospital. He gives me a nod and lets me by and then yells and asks, “Is she really hurt?” I say “yes” and continue driving.

The hospital

We sign in, and my daughter is still shaking. I am scared that she has head trauma, but she has a broken arm, as we soon find out. Crazy! If I broke my arm, I would be wailing too! She seems pretty tough now that I look back on it. She took it well, considering the damage. She does an excellent job of listening to the doctors as she gets the x-rays. She’s tough as they set her arm in the temporary cast. I am proud of how my little girl is handling it all. 

Coming home

My wife gets home before I do, and apparently, I left the side window open, and our “old dog” decided that she did not want to be outside anymore. She ripped the screen and broke the shutter as she tried to climb back into the house. Saturday in suburbia can sometimes be the biggest fucking shit-show. I am deflated as I come home to see the damage—my daughter with a cast on her arm, the dog’s teeth marks on the missing shutters. I just want to climb into bed and watch Netflix. Fuck me! I know you can relate.

When it’s all said and done

 Later, I found out that the neighbor girl across the street grabbed my daughter’s handlebar and forced her to dive headfirst off her bike. She put her arms out and stiff-armed the sidewalk going full speed. Kids can and will do the dumbest things when nobody is looking. I am just glad that my daughter recovered well. The doctor said it would heal completely and that she was still young enough that you won’t even be able to tell it was ever broke.