Curiosity and the Cat

Have you ever heard the old saying, "Curiosity killed the cat"? Well, we don't have a cat (and never will) and nobody died...but there's one little 3 year old girl who will never touch the hot stove again!

I was cooking dinner Wednesday night and both Parker and Avery were at my feet hugging my legs. I was browning some ground beef and I needed to go to the sink to drain off the grease. I told the kids to step clear out of the way b/c I had a very hot pot. They obeyed and as I turned towards the sink Avery immediately starts SCREAMING!!! I knew exactly what she had done. She touched the hot cooktop. Now I know it hurt, and bless her heart I know it was very scary for Avery because she didn't completely understand what had happened, but for all of you who know my very spirited Avery...if you've seen her cry and scream over a scraped knee, imagine what her screams were like after a burned hand!!! My first-aid instincts kicked in and I picked her up and stuck her hand under the running cold water. After she calmed down a little bit I convinced her to sit at the table with her hand in a bowl of cold water. Initially I thought she had burned about a nickle-sized area on the palm of her hand. But when Daddy got home and convinced her to let us examine it further, we discovered the whole top part of the palm of her hand and four of her fingertips were burned. It just looked bad; so Shane and Avery headed to the Minor Med. We assured Avery she wasn't going to get a shot, which was her first reaction when we told her she needed to go see the doctor. We told her he just needed to give her a big bandaid for her hand. Shane said she screamed all the way to the Minor Med. When they got there, there was an hour and a half wait; however, at the Minor Med off of Poplar, there was no waiting. So Shane got back in the car and headed that way...with Avery then screaming she wanted to go back b/c she wanted to see the doctor; she wanted her bandaid. They eventually made it there and when they walked into the waiting area Tinkerbell the Movie was on. And she FINALLY settled down. The doctor put antibiotic ointment on it and wrapped it with gauze, which is what we probably would have done ourselves, but we just wanted someone else to look at it. Shane said she was very brave, sitting still for the doctor while he took care of her. He said they carried on quite the conversation. They got back home around 9:30 with a happy 3 year old and a gallon of chocolate ice cream from Baskin Robbins!

Since then she hasn't complained about it at all. We followed up with the pediatrician yesterday and she gave us a special cream to put on it and instructed us to keep it wrapped up while it healed. Dr.Benaim asked me who cried more, me or Avery? You know, I never even cried. Does that make me a bad mom? Parker cried, bless his heart, I guess it scared him too. Thank goodness Carter was chilling out in his bouncy seat the whole time.

So they say a cat has 9 lives. One down, 8 to go. What will the next surge of curiosity bring us? I'm saying my prayers!!!