Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

[Six days after the bump]

If you’ve seen our recent trip to Hong Kong’s photo updates on my Facebook, you would’ve read about Vai’s ‘accidental bump’ on the forehead.

Yep, it was a bad one.

And for the first time, I actually saw a ‘goose egg’ on my kid’s head!

[‘Goose egg‘ = swelling that may appear after a head blow, the result of the scalp’s veins leaking fluid or blood into (and under) the scalp. It may take days or even a week to disappear]

[When one’s forehead and the corner of a vending machine collided, the result is … bad]

…

It’s been 10 days since the incident, and the swelling is still there, btw.

A faint lump on the forehead.

I can see that it’s slowly going away though.

(Btw, there’re also these greenish-coloured ‘marks’ on the skin near both his eyes. I assume it’s his blood going downwards under the skin. And the marks are still there)

AND.

If you look at the top photo, you can also see this red ‘straight line’ on his right cheek. Errr … he got that in Hong Kong too, when he happily skipped around our bedroom and knocked his cheek against the metal side of the door on his way out!

Boy. Oh boy.

[Five days after the incident. Bump’s still there. More obvious ‘greenish marks’ near both eyes]
…

Btw, I get asked quite a bit by people about the incident, and what we did after that, and so I thought of sharing it with you here today.

Q: What did you guys do immediately after the incident?

A: We checked the forehead and saw no cuts. But when the goose egg appeared seconds later, I did cringe and say, ‘OH MY! The bump is so big, Wilson!’. But then Wilson reminded me to not show any panicky expressions or actions, so that Vai could feel less shocked and more calm, now that he’s in our arms (He was crying loudly when we stopped by the side of the tunnel – we were walking towards the train station)

We then immediately gave the bump area a good rub (using the lower part of our palm, near our wrist). We always do this on our bumps to better spread any burst of blood vessels under the skin (and it works, btw. In all of our cases, anyway).

And as we didn’t have any ‘hirudoid’ or ‘trombopop’ gels with us at the time (ie. they work well on bumps/bruises), I applied some medicated oil on the bump.

Q: Did you scold or tell him off for being careless or something? (immediately after, or after the incident)

A: No, we didn’t. To both Wilson and I, it was totally an accident. Vai himself didn’t want it to happen. He was just being his playful self and it was totally unforeseen (ie. It wasn’t like he was being playful / running around near the roadside or something – which I will totally forbid, btw!)

So what we did after attending to the bump, we gave him a big hug and told him that we’ve put something on it. Daddy then carried and comforted him as we walked towards the train.

We let him cry. And he cried for a good 3-5 mins. And after that, he just leaned on Daddy’s shoulder quietly.

Some 15 mins after the incident, he’s all smiles and playful again as usual. We all also reacted and interacted normally.

He laughed when he saw his forehead, and told us how it’s a ‘balaku’, hehe. (note: ‘Balaku’ is apparently a word commonly used by kids in Singapore when they refer to a bump)

Q: Did you bring him to the hospital or the doctor?

A: No, because we could see that he’s totally okay after the incident, ie. no symptoms of serious head injury.

…

Anyway.

We thank God everything was okay.

And really, after I had kids (especially after I had Vai!), I get to witness instances where God is evidently at work, providing and protecting our little ones.

Daily.

And, it’s amazing.

…

Here are some useful links on head injuries that may be handy to you:

– A checklist on Falls for parents (ie. What to do and check, etc) by kidshealth.org

– Head Injuries, by kidshealth.org

– When to call the doctor after your child hits her head, by DrGreene.com