Bad Mommy Moment (or, Something Happened on the Way to Gymnastics Class)

It's funny how plans change in just a moment. On Mondays for the past 2 weeks we have been taking Jackson to a preschool gymnastics class ,which he loves. We had a (rare) head start getting out the door, so we made a quick stop at Walgreen's to buy formula and more Puffs (Tucker can be a little Puffs addict). I parked right in front of the store to make the unloading/loading carseat process easier.

Now, I have a system for getting the boys out of the car. I let Jackson out of his seat, and he stands behind Tucker's car seat while I get Tucker out. I then back out holding Tucker, and continue to hold Tucker while I help Jackson out of the car. I don't know if this is the best system, but it's OUR system and it's worked thus far. Well, that went all well and good today, except as I was getting out with Tucker, my pants leg caught on the floorboard (the Element has a thing that sticks out); I lost my balance and I fell (and poor Tucker, having no control over the situation, fell with me). I lost control of Tucker about halfway down - I landed on my butt (well-padded, so no injury for me), and Tucker landed partially on me (good), but his head hit the pavement (bad).

Tucker almost immediately cries. I get Jackson out of the car and we all head into the store. I just wanted someone to look at the back of Tucker's head - the mommies out there may agree that it's hard to look at a child's injury while you're comforting that child. So, we head in, and in that short amount of time, Tucker has calmed down and is flirting with the salesgals in Walgreen's. The salesgals up front send us back to pharmacist, who calls the store manager, who says they have to call 911 to send the EMT since it happened on their property (i.e. they understandably want to avoid a lawsuit).

In the meantime I try to call the pediatrician, but the EMTs arrive VERY quickly(the fire deparment is almost next door to store, with just the park in between the two). They check Tucker out and seemed pretty confident that he did not sustain a concussion but ask if I want the ambulance (no) and suggest we go to the pediatrician.

So we head for the doctor's office, who gets a phone call from me in transit saying "we're heading down there". As I know my husband will want to know what happened, and particularly since the EMTs know my husband, I make sure that the next call is to him. The doctor checks my youngest son out - my poor little Tucker who has been held for almost two hours solid (my wrist still hurts) by the time we leave the doctor; we wants to get down so badly but also wants to be held - she declares that he is totally OK.

We got home and Tucker crawled and played; he ate his dinner and even some of Jackson's soft french fries (Jackson got a Wacky Pack for behaving well at the doctor). And I feel like we totally lucked out.