Do you freak out when one of your DC injures themselves?

[MrsOverTheRoad]

DD aged 9 was having a sneaky last jump on the trampoline in the fading light this evening (we're in Oz) and DH was gardening.

DD did a last somersault and managed to knee herself in the mouth, splitting her lip....there was quite a bit of blood and DH ran in with her and he was shouting "I told you! I told you to be careful! It was dark! You were meant to be inside!"

He was panicking...I've done it too in the past but seem to have got a handle on it lately.

I made sure DD"s teeth were intact and got her a cold cloth etc and she calmed down and DH apologised to her for yelling...explaining that he was in a state of panic due to concern.

Do you freak or are you calm? My Mum once shouted at me for knocking myself out bless her!

I panic. Have only had 2 incidences, one when DD1 kicked DD2 in the head when DD2 was 18months old. She lost consciousness briefly and was quite woozy afterwards and I was distraught. Second time was this summer when DD2 had a seizure when we were abroad. So stressful! But I’m really chilled about ‘day to day’ bumps that other parents seem to freak about.

I've done both.
I have to admit, as much as it makes me sound like an insufferably smug git, it really is much easier to deal with things when you're calm. Ds1 broke his arm recently. I was amazed with myself at how calm I managed to be.
I do get delayed freak outs though. One time we'd thought we'd lost ds1. To cut a long story short, he was fine and had gone off with my mum. I was stressed, but ok.
The following day, someone tried to get past me in a shop by putting their hand on my side and moving me. Made me jump out of my skin and I was in absolute panic mode all day. Delayed shock I suppose.

I’m the panic/worry one my DH is the calm one and deals good in emergencies so that’s one good thing at least one of us has a grip but I hope and pray I never have to deal with anything major

Oh God, so when my nearly 3 year old stepson hurts himself I'm usually quite calm because he normally isn't bothered-the other day he bashed his head off his toy kitchen twice, said 'Ow' rubbed it and continued playing- and my OH is a nurse anyway but my mum is a complete nutter. I remember my now 14 year old sister went over the handle bars of her bike five years ago and split her chin open-blood everywhere!- my mum just screamed for my stepdad and flapped her hands around a lot rather than actually my little sister. Then there was the time I had my first tonic clonic seizure at my Nan's house. My nan phoned 999 and before the ambulance controller could ask anything about me they asked to speak to 'the lady who is screaming and making all that noise, I need to calm her down'. It was my mum. The worst part? My youngest brother has been epileptic since he was three, she knew what was happening and not to panic.

I’m calm and DH tends to panic. It’s not going to help the situation for DC to see you worried and it will add to their distress. It can also mean that they freak out about the tiniest scratch. A friend of DDs gets totally hysterical but her mums reaction really doesn’t help matters.

I have an anxiety disorder and regularly have panic attacks about things such as if I've accidentally missed my turn making the coffee at work, but I can hold it together when someone's injured or sick. I tend to lose my shit later on when I'm alone. Earlier this year my 5yo was taken to hospital in an ambulance and I stayed calm and chatty for the whole ride in, all through triage and into the ward. I made him laugh on the way to xray and I settled him to sleep once they'd set his IV running. Then I drank a very bad cup of coffee, checked my voicemail and heard an offer of help from my boss. At that point I started sobbing. I panicked every time his monitors went off but spoke to him calmly.

DH is mostly the same, but doesn't process things the way I do, so asks lots of questions. It's part of him, he likes to understand exactly what is happening, but the questions can put me on edge. Especially if they've been answered already but he hasn't taken it in.

DH really panics. If DD falls over he will sort of gasp or call out. I tend to rely on my reflexes to grab her if she’s within reach or just almost feign nonchalance and try not to react until I can gauge from her how hurt she is. Only time I have panicked I think is when I could see a car door about to slam on her hand. It was like it was happening in slow motion...

I’m another who copes serenely on the surface and when it’s all over I turn into a gibbering wreck. At least it means I do the right thing at the time.

Our dd has a disability that means she was abnormally prone to falls in her younger days. The effect on dh and me was that we developed a specific emergency reaction where we go into extreme calm, practical, let's-sort-things-out mode.

It's funny because dh is someone who goes into complete screaming panic mode if the website shuts down when he is trying to book a ticket or if he can't find a jacket he needs to take to work in the morning. But faced with blood or vomit or a semi-conscious child at the bottom of the stairs and he is as calm as calm.

As our youngest put it once (after his sister had been taken off in an ambulance): "A slight accident is when somebody ends up in A&£. A catastrophe is when dad treads on a biscuit."

"A slight accident is when somebody ends up in A&£. A catastrophe is when dad treads on a biscuit."

Can I steal that? It describes my MIL to perfection! There is nobody in the world I would rather have with me in a real crisis (and we have been in a few together -broken bones, major bleeding, a flooded house, finding a relation dead to name but 4 - but the time dd cut her own fringe.......!