Bloody Noses and Sunshine

Today, my eldest client woke up from her nap, crying with a bloody nose. Blood was everywhere. Let me tell you, there is something quite disconcerting about discovering a toddler covered in blood. She was a little freaked out. Luckily, my husband and partner in crime happened to be home and he was actually the one who discovered the mess. He had enough sense to grab a towel and start trying to stop the blood. 

Now, let me pause to tell you how to deal with a bloody nose. It is a common misconception that when your nose is bleeding you should tilt your head back. Do NOT do this! Tilting your head back can cause more harm than good. The proper way to take care of it is to first clear the nose of some of the blood by lightly blowing your nose or at least wiping most of it away. Next, you carefully pinch the nose together for several minutes until the bleeding stops. Then, you clean up the blood and take it easy for a little bit so the bleeding does not start back up. This is what I did. 

Now, after the initial shock of her blood everywhere wore off, my client began to chatter away about her nose bleeding, telling the story over and over. She also had to point out all the places on her bed the blood had fallen. Her vigor made it a little difficult to keep her nose pinched, but I managed. Once the blood had stopped, I tossed her into a warm bath to clean her up while my partner in crime gathered up the blood covered clothes and bed sheets to toss into the wash. Unfortunately, Client One's favorite bear and lovey, Bo, was caught in the mess and had to be washed as well. This is not good. Even as I write this, he is still damp and in the dryer and she keeps having tearful outbursts waiting on him to dry.

Apart from the trauma of nap time, the day was actually quite nice. It was warm and sunny and a perfect day for outdoor play. Now, Tuesdays at our house are like Saturdays at most other people's houses. Tuesday is the day that my husband has off, so it is the day that our usual schedule is thrown out the window. It's also the day that we can double-team things and get them done if need be (like finally making it out to go grocery shopping). So, we took advantage as a family of the beautiful weather. Client Two and I mostly watched from the sidelines, but we enjoyed the sunshine nonetheless. We literally stayed outside until the sun went down (coming in for brief intervals for things like dinner and bathroom breaks).

Now, if Bo would just dry, we could officially wrap up this day of sunny excitement and get ready for whatever tomorrow brings. Hopefully, that will be soon. Fingers crossed.