Theory vs. Reality

As all of you are parents, I am sure I am telling you nothing new when I
mention that theory and reality don't always mesh ;-) But today, it was
re-enforced for me again.

There were a lot of kids in the church nursery today, being as the picnic
was happening after the service, so I stuck around to give a hand ( a number
of other parents did too). Part way through the service, as he was climbing
off a riding toy, Alex stumbled and bashed his nose on it's handle. One of
the dads was closer than me and picked him up, and we saw his nose was
bleeding. No sweat; I regularly have nose bleeds, I have first aid
training, this is a simple fix: sit him in my lap, lean him forward
slightly and pinch his nose for a few minutes until the bleeding stops.
Yeah, right! Have you ever tried holding a crying 14mo. old kid, pinching
his nose, for a few minutes?

It was ok in the end--for one thing, the head of our children's ministry, in
addition to being a mom herself, is a nurse--and there were enough extra
hands around to keep things under control (including keeping Chris occupied
while Alex was in my lap, both boys are going through the 'I want mommy's
attention because she's busy with my brother' phase). But it does lead me
to wonder--how *do* you stop a bleeding nose in a kid this small?


--
Marie
Chris and Alex--born 04/23/03 at 31wks gestational :-)