Despite my protests, I wound up outside watching Ellie. Madeline went outside for Mr. Softee and then stayed outside playing with the neighbors. Ellie wanted to go play, too. The problem with Ellie is I have to be out there with her. I didn't want to be outside, but you can't just let an almost 4 year old go out front by herself. So I capitulated to her pleading to go play outside. While I was out there I figured I'd clean all the trash out of my car and vacuum out all the cracker crumb debris. Everything was going beautifully. The kids were happy, I was cleaning (which is Karen for happiness) and the dog was behaving inside (that's what I was choosing to believe--more on that later).
So out of nowhere the universe shifted and it was pop quiz time. The neighbors left for a t-ball game and Madeline decided it was time to run around the corner to try and attract more kids to play with. So I get a frantic Ellie asking where Madeline is. I tell her she's with the neighbors (that's before I knew they had left) and she starts freaking out. So I come out of the garage and Madeline is rounding the corner to come home asking if another friend can play with her now. So in my annoyed state (because she ran off and didn't tell me where she was going) I shouted at her and told her no. I let her know that it was time to play with Ellie.
Less than a minute later Madeline is having another one of her the world is ending overly dramatic moments because the ball went across the street. So I tell her to go get it and stop crying. Mind you, we taught her how to safely cross a street last year. So my child decides to run across the street without looking both ways. I shouted at her to look both ways before coming back. She ignores me and bolts back across the street, only this time there's a car coming right for her. Yay! I got to experience anger and fear at the same time. Thankfully, she was spared and did not get hit by the car. I don't think she understood the gravity of the situation she nearly encountered. I started ranting at her about how careless she was and told her it was time to go inside. I'm sure it was quite a scene.
Somehow on their way in, the ball wound up in the street a second time. I was about to have Madeline properly cross the street to get it, but our neighbor from across the street ran and got it for her. Only now Ellie is screaming her head off. I didn't see what happened, but I'm assuming that she fell because her knee was all bloody. She managed to scrape off a wart that was on her knee and it was bleeding quite a lot.
We moved into the house so I could bandage up Ellie. I had blood dripping all over the floor while I patched her up. Ellie who is usually a trooper for this type of stuff was inconsolable.
Once I finished up with Ellie I started to move on to the task of cleaning the blood off the floor. This is where naughty Mr. Furkins re-enters the story. As I go to get paper towels and windex, Oscar decided that he was going to help with the mess. I can't tell you how repulsed I was to see the dog licking up Ellie's blood. I chased him away so I could finish cleaning the floor.
Amazing how much can go wrong in a matter of 4 minutes. It was like the day had been suddenly turned upside down. I handled the situation with as little grace as you can imagine (that means I probably failed the quiz). I also discovered that Oscar was chewing on some toys the girls had on the steps while we were outside, so he wasn't behaving like I had assumed he was.
Now that the craziness has passed I can sit down and collect myself. I'm thankful that Madeline didn't get run over and that Ellie's knee has stopped bleeding. Here's hoping that the rest of the day will be boring.
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