I know that kids and injuries go kind of hand in hand. Our kids are bound to hurt themselves once in a while and some kids more then others. If my kids are anything like me – if they have inherited the ‘clumsy’ gene from me then I really should just put them in bubble wrap now. Princess R is a bit on the clumsy side – she is not as coordinated as others because, well, she get’s that from me too. Kinda like having two left feet sometimes. I anticipate she will injure herself a bit – like falling when running and tripping on her own toes.
What I do not appreciate though is other people injuring her. Again, I know this happens and accidents happen and all that stuff – comes with childhood. What if though it seems to happen more then it should? Progressively getting worse?
Princess R was injured at school on Tuesday. A child ran into her while they were getting ready to go home. They smacked heads, she fell to the ground and tears started flowing. The boy – was fine. Princess R … well… look:
Few hours after it happened | Day after injury
The whole half of her forehead is bruised up. It really honestly looked like someone had implanted a giant chicken egg under her skin. She also has a bruise on her knee from falling after being hit. We had to watch her for concussions over night and give her medicine for the killer headache that just didn’t seem to want to go away.
I felt terrible. This was the third time the same child ran into her. First time she was fine and it wasn’t bad. Second time she had a small bruise on the same spot she’s hurt now. This time … well … yeah. I am left wondering if this is being done on purpose? Who is watching the kids when this happens? Is she the only one who keeps getting hurt? And HOW can a child be running so quickly/so hard to cause this type of injury?
Still chatting with the school – her teacher wasn’t the one in the classroom at the time but hopefully I will be getting some answers and a lot of reassurance that this wont happen again.
Oh and before I got the call that she got hurt – I had just gotten off the phone with her teacher because Big P told me that a week ago they were making ‘pasta crafts’ at school…. Princess R was too… you know, just casually making crafts with GLUTEN. & have now discovered why she’s been crying in pain from headaches and stomach aches and eating enough for three kids.
Edited to add (December 22 @ 4:30pm): So I was told by Princess R’s teacher(s) today when I asked for more info on what happened on Tuesday that there are a lot of kindergarten students getting ready at the same time who get “silly” because they are “excited to go home”. Also that “this was an accident and bumps and bruises happen” … You know, i would buy that if this wasn’t the THIRD time the SAME kid ran into her head. Sounds like there’s some sort of “control of the kids” issue going on… sounds like a call to the principal…
Edited to add (January 18): We had a meeting with the principal of the school. It’s been cleared up that the child who ran into Princess R was not targeting her [I didn't really feel he was] and they are taking this very seriously. I was reassured that dismissal policies have been changed, the student and my daughter’s coats and backpacks are now on opposite ends of the room and an educational assistant will be in the classroom to assist the other child during this time. We have taken Princess R to the doctor as her ‘bump and bruise’ is still visible 3+ weeks later. I am convinced her skull has a fracture in it but they are reluctant to x-ray to confirm given she is so young and course of treatment will not vary if it is cracked. I am waiting a few weeks & will have her seen again.
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{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
Twitter: corbinsheart
December 22, 2011 at 1:29 pm
Oh my gosh!!!!! I would be pissed too. Specially since it has happened more then one time. I hope Princess feels better soon!
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Twitter: AccustomedChaos
December 28, 2011 at 12:49 pm
Thank you Ruth
My son (he’s just a preschooler) is kind of a pusher. He just shoves sometimes, most of the time knocking people down. The preschool and I are working on it. But, there’s this log of who got hurt at school hanging on the wall for all to see. I often see my son’s name on there. “Shoved Susie, she fell down.” “Pushed Alex, he fell down.” Etc. But, one day he came home with a huge bruise and lump on his nose. He told me his version of what happened, but the next day at school I checked the log to see what was up. NOTHING WAS ON THERE. According to my son it was this other REALLY troublemaking kid that goes there. And, none of the parents had any idea what happened (it’s a co-op school, so the parents were monitoring the kids). I couldn’t believe it. I know they can’t watch all the kids all the time, but this wasn’t some small injury. I think sometimes teachers just don’t know how to handle problem kids, so they focus on less-problem kids, or ignore situations.
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Twitter: AccustomedChaos
December 28, 2011 at 12:49 pm
i have a feeling you’re right – i worry about that though. thanks so much for sharing
Twitter: adayinmollywood
December 22, 2011 at 1:47 pm
Ugh, that’s frustrating. We had the same thing happen three times at our last daycare and I finally said I had had enough. We changed places!
I hope you get it figured out and it stops happening!
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Twitter: AccustomedChaos
December 28, 2011 at 12:50 pm
ughh! i am sorry you had to deal with this too. i am hoping we can get it all sorted out soon
yuck that sucks. On one hand, as a teacher, I agree that it IS difficult to control that many kids at one time, they move so quickly and unexpectedly. As a parent, you have every right to be frustrated and want justice for your little one. I do not like that the teachers said “kids will be kids”. It’s true they will, but it sounds as if we have an issue with the child who is victimizing other children, yours in particular. Can you see if the teachers can keep a closer hand on the pusher? Maybe a meeting is in order with an objective third party. It does need to stop and you dont want your little one to be afraid to go to school.
pammypam recently posted..How to Survive the Holidays if you Lose your Job
Twitter: AccustomedChaos
December 28, 2011 at 12:51 pm
i have no idea if it’s all been done on purpose to target my daughter but nonetheless its the third time, right – so i worry that this more an issue of losing control of the kids at the end of the day.
thanks so much for your viewpoint and advice!
I would be furious! There is NO reason that a child should be injured like this in a classroom. Maybe a fall on the playground but not inside.
If there are too many children in a smallish space to keep them all safe, then reduce the number of kids in the space. Just call up a few at a time, by color of shirts, last names letters, something.
If you have pictures of her first injuries as well, I would be sitting in the principals office.
If this child is the cause all three times, then the two of them need to be separated during these transition times.
Twitter: AccustomedChaos
December 28, 2011 at 12:52 pm
unfortunately i don’t have any pictures of her bruises from the other times – they were not nearly as big and i thought it was just a random incident.
i agree with you — there’s too much commotion going on at the end of the day.
Twitter: mytimeasmom
December 22, 2011 at 7:35 pm
Poor girl. That lump on her head is huge. I hope you get this problem figured out. It doesn’t seem like it’s an accident if it’s happened 3 times from the same kid.
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Twitter: AccustomedChaos
December 28, 2011 at 12:53 pm
I am not sure if it is an accident but either way – there is some issues as far as keeping a handle on all the kids at the end of the day.
thanks Jessica
Twitter: MommyMoments
December 23, 2011 at 1:13 pm
I would be really upset with that as well and definitely not satisfied with your updated message from the teacher. I would be sure the principal knew and that since this was the third time what the plan was to ensure children are not getting HEAD INJURIES while getting ready to go home.
Poor little princess and poor mommy too!
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Twitter: AccustomedChaos
December 28, 2011 at 12:54 pm
yeah — RIGHT! I am hoping i will get clearer answers when the school year starts up again.
OH NO! Hope she is feeling better!!! Poor thing
Twitter: AccustomedChaos
December 28, 2011 at 12:55 pm
thank you tina!
Twitter: daddyrunsalot
December 27, 2011 at 8:44 am
Yeah, a call to the principal is in order . . . if this were a one time thing, even if the results were really bad, it’s probably nothing to be too concerned about . . . but it sounds like “getting silly” is just the teacher’s excuse for “I lose control of my kids at the same time every day.”
John recently posted..Where I say “happy anniversary” in the only way I know how
Twitter: AccustomedChaos
December 28, 2011 at 12:55 pm
yes – that is EXACTLY what i felt that line really meant. Terrible!
Hey, that’s my kid! Not literally. My children are both clumsy ones. My daughter is the one I get call about weekly from the nurse’s office. I answer the phone with “And what did she fall off of, trip over, run into this time?” She’s gung ho and doesn’t pay a lot of attention to where she is. I hurt her on average three or four times a day (visible bruises a couple times a week at least…she has a habit of standing directly behind my elbow and suddenly saying “Mom!” I turn, elbow to the eye.) Actually, I had a serious injury poorly handled with her too. She fell off a piece of playground equipment and was upset enough I had to take her home…and I found out the next week she had fallen SEVEN FEET onto her back. Needless to say, had I known, the ER would have been our next stop. The older one, twelve, has motor planning deficits that are serious enough to actually receive a diagnosis. He cannot ride a bike and has only recently learned to tie his shoes…and he backs into, sits on, trips over, steps on, etc a member of the family pretty much constantly. I wonder whether anyone is helping the bump and crash child before he starts thinking of himself as bad or helpless (my son struggles with that, as well as now being reluctant to try new skills for fear of looking bad, getting hurt, or hurting someone else.)