Boys of Summer

Veering away from the mundane shop talk, I hope all the parents out there had a good first day of school.  May you have had a moment to kick back, sip some coffee and enjoy a moment of relative calm basking in the peace of a once more quite house.
I had enjoyed such a brief moment. Brief being the operative term.
This morning my wife and I were on the ball (a surprising new development for us, trust me I give it the rest of the week before it decays into its normal chaos!) My wife rose at 5.30am to awaken our new high scholler, Elijah.  A good thing as if it were me I say get up once...then break out the ice water!  Then promptly woke me at 7 am (lord!) to assist with the three elementary students.  Rozy and Owen were given their baths (Rozy still wants me to wash her hair) then dried and dressed.  Logan takes a shower (he's a big boy and won't take a bath with the babies!) then dried and dressed, by 7.30am they were ready to go (a new record!) So with a half hour to spare and our middle scholler not having to wake until 8.00 am my wife and I retired to the Lanai for coffee.  Going pretty well so far...at 7.50am we left the Lanai and taking the functionary "before the first day of school pictures" opened the door to leave...and were met with a torrential downpour.  And guess who didn't have enough brains to buy umbrellas or rain slickers?  OOOOOhhhh you got it first try!  SOOOO as we are not car drivers we were faced with a wet walk.  I jumped on my Schwinn and shot up the 2 blocks to CVS and paid WAY to much for four slickers, upon my arrival home our resident savior Keri "the Panera bread lady" was waiting to drive us up, not wanting to see us get wet.  God bless good friends!  Well I still needed my bike so we loaded the kids into the van and I rode the three minutes to school. 34 minutes later poor Keri pulled into the school parking lot (reason # 2 why I don't drive. Traffic!)  We did the customary walk into chaos, trying to locate each child's new class only briefly getting lost (it wasn't my fault I had a bad map) But thankfully each child was quite excited to be back in school (and be away from the house, I'm sure) and several kisses and "Have a great day"'s later I was off to the shop, early to start what I planned on being a good, productive day!  ("hehhehehehehehehehe" fate manically cackled) Barely an hour later I got a frantic call from my wife "the school called!" My first words being "What did Kaleb do NOW!"  It wasn't Kaleb it was Logan.  Now please understand parents don't have favorites  (yea, right!)  But they do...expect certain things from each of their children, and trouble from Logan is not something we EVER expect.   During the playing of a simple game in class he fell and cracked his head on the edge of a desk and suffered a deep pressure split.  Now have you've herd the expression "sunken heart" and "pit of your stomach"? that was it.
Needless to say within minutes the shop was locked up tight and my Schwinn was moving again!
"Deep" gash was an understatement.
In steps Keri the savior once again.
And we're at the ER.  Now I don't know what it is about rainy days and hospitals but the beds are always full.  So we waited, cuddled for warmth and waited. Logan was treated to lunch "Whatever he wanted" He wanted chocolate cake and orange Crush.  Well what would you do? Finally we were seen, and yes stitches were needed, 6 to be exact.  Now I always take the children to the ER, not because my wife is queasy or all girlie about blood or whatever, but have you ever watched "Animal Planet" when the stupid photographer tries to get to close to the tigresses cubs?  My wife doesn't go to the hospital because I don't want to explain  to the coroner why my wife mauled the doctor!
Well I have never broken down in ALL the times I've gone to the ER,  most of the staff knows me and my kids on a first name basis, but folks to see your child helpless, scared and in pain...I thank my wife, whom I often kid alot, and fight with but still love so very deeply, for holding me when all was said and done, so I could just cry.