kids play-fighting with sticks, a warning!!

[fionagib]

Just had to share this. My ds aged 8 was playing with 5 or 6 other kids in a friend's garden this evening - they were play fighting with sticks, some kind of war game - and my ds got hit in the face with a stick which had a nail in it (or it was thrown at him, it happened so fast no one knows). He ran in screaming & covered in blood, and he's now at A&E with my dh.

He's going to be fine but has quite a deep cut above his upper lip & it will prob need stitched. You know how we're always telling our kids to be careful when they're playing with sticks, using them as swords etc - this really upset me today & it scares me to think it could have been his eye or something.

Thanks for letting me share that. I feel crap as I was in the kitchen only half watching and was busy chatting to my friend.

Oh you poor thing, that must have been so scary. I'm sure the other boys will have learnt a big lesson from that too. I hope your little one is ok and one day you can tell him when he's feeling better that all the most handsome film stars tend to have a scar on their lip.

You cant be there 24/7, it's impossible, so dont feel bad. Big Hug. x

oh goodness me. i hope he is ok... don't blame yourself... it wasn't your fault.

i guess sticks aren't so bad per se... it's the ones with the nails in you need to look out for!

he'll be fine, lots of hugs for him when he gets home, he'll get enough attention from his friends with his war wound, you'll probably find him on a stretcher bandaged next game

At 8 your meant to be able to visit with friends and have a chat, these things happen, it could've easily happened falling over in school so reiterate what IM said, don't feel bad, and big hugs to you

if it helps my ds now 5.4 alledgedly tripped and fell at 12 months old in nursery and hit his face on a plastic moulded train, split his lip from above the pink bit ( I know it has an official name but I don't know it) right through his lip - you would have to know he'd done it to even look for a scar these days - it's just not visible.

and the guilt trip as a working mum was just indescribable !

that sounds very scary. Glad he's going to be OK

May I share another scary story about sticks.

When I was about 8 a boy I knew got stuck in the eye by a stick (during play fights with found branches) unfortunately it punctured his eyeball and he lost his sight in that eye.

salutory lesson about kids and sticks... don't allow it

That is a salutory tale, fiona - my two bash each other with sticks all the time (and you say "you'll have his eye out" but you don't really mean it...)

Feeling crap comes with the territory, doesn't it - you do know it wasn't your fault, don't you? It could have been any one of us. Both my ds's have facial scars (and yes, I was parent-in-charge on both occasions) and both think they're pretty cool - it's just us Mums who have the guilt trip.

your posts have meant a lot to me this evening. last time my dh texted me (30 mins ago) they still hadn't seen a doc and had been in A&E for over an hour.

twiglett that eye story is really scary. Obviously a parent can't monitor their every move and as shades1 says you should be able to have a chat with a friend, but I won't let them do the brandishing stick thing if I'm around. Think he will have a scar. He's a twin and has always wanted something to distinguish himself from his brother...

was feeling much happier, thought they'd be home soon & now dh has called to say they are still at hospital, ds has to be seen by a plastic surgeon, ds tearful & scared. It's 10.20 pm, hospital is 45 min drive awya and they still have to see this surgeon.

It makes me so mad that there's a cottage hospital here in this small town/big village where i took my twin ds's countless times when they were reckless toddlers and they were seen & given butterly strip thingies in ten mins, no problem. Now there's no doctor there & nearest hospitals that deal with 'minor injuries' (for us wishaw & livingston) are 45 min drives away through countryside, probably 20-30 miles.

So sorry to hear this. You must be longing to have them home safe. When I was a similar age to your ds we were playing "jousting" games - basically it meant carrying a long bamboo stick while on your bike and trying to poke the other kids with the stick. All was fine until a stick went in my eye. All the kids were terrified, blood was coming from my eye area, and all I could think was that my mum would kill me! In the end the cut turned out to be above my eye itself, but yet again it shows how easily things can go wrong. And I'll never forget thinking that I had been blinded.

I hope they are home soon, and that you can tuck your poor boy up in bed. And get a big hug yourself.

Oh Fiona that is so worrying for you

I hope they get home soon and that DS mends well

I went cold just reading your thread, it must have been so scarey. I hope your ds and dh are home safely soon and that ds mends well.

Strangely, I sort of re-noticed a scar from when I was 3yo this morning on my forehead and felt quite cool - I wondered if others notice it nowadays or not?

I love that he's a twin and wants a distinguishing mark, bless him!

thanks so much for your posts, they have made me quite tearful (in a nice way). dh called, dex has had 3 stitches and is fine and they'll be home very soon, thanks so much for being here when there was no one to talk to xxxxx

ps merrygoround - jousting is now banned!

Wise move Fiona. When will your son be able to go back to school?

he'll be back on mon, stitches out next thur, all's fine, thanks so much for posts and concern, was feeling a bit hysterical last night. xxxx

No more than anyone else would in the circumstances.