A day of firsts

Today was a bold day in the relationship between parents and children.   There were two major parenting firsts in our household.

Genevieve, being recognized as a mature enough, was allowed to ride her scooter around by herself.  She rode her scooter to her school and proceeded to play at the school yard for almost a full hour before coming home.  While I told her to go, I wasn't completely sanguine about the affair.  I did peek out of our bedroom window at least once to see if I could spy on her.

Sophie's first was far less auspicious.  Sophie received a rather large splinter to her finger, or so I'm told as I did not see that part of the ordeal.  After removal of the splinter Sophie was told to keep her hand under cold running water while Carrie found a band-aid   This, however, proved too much for little Sophie who collapsed in a faint on the floor.  Genevieve came running upstairs to tell me that Sophie had a splinter and that Carrie needed my help. I came downstairs to find Sophie lying on the bathroom floor with an ashen complexion and bluish lips.   She neglected to inform me about the fainting. I was particularly confused for a few moments until Carrie explained the situation.  Being a former boy scout, and one who has fainted on more than one occasion at the sight of my own blood, I proceeded to treat her for an acute shock reaction.  She was fine after a few minutes and back to her normal Sophie-self though we did confine her to the couch and television for a little while.  At dinner she tried to do a repeat performance after removing her band-aid.  I made her lie on the floor and fed her chicken and juice in that position for a few minutes.  She thought that was pretty amusing but did express disbelief in peristalsis at first.