This weekend my son turned 14. It’s hard to believe- especially after you hear this story. I mean, most 14 year olds know everything, don’t they? If that was the case here, it would have saved me a trip to the doctor! But, let me start at the beginning.
Sunday morning was the typical running around like crazy to get ready for church. (I wonder why that is when I usually leave the house hours earlier during the week!) Add that to a late Saturday night filled with fun and games (Vegas Showdown is the best game ever- except for Settlers of Catan) with my sister and brother-in-law and a morning of getting everyone ready (amazing how different a 3 or 4 year old is from a 14 year old- also amazing how similar they are lol). So, here sets the scene for our story.
Oh, how could I forget some of the key characters? My sister’s 2 dogs- who were very good sports for the weekend away from home.
So, in our rush to get things done before church, someone- I don’t even remember who- asked my son to take the 2 dogs out. Since we only have 1, there is only 1 chain. So, he was supposed to let one out and then the other. Unfortunately, the plan didn’t work out that way. While letting one out, the other one flew out the door and down the street. Without thinking, obviously without thinking, my son flew out after her. Since everyone was rushing around, we had no idea this was happening. I did notice he was not around, but figured he was right outside with the dog.
So, imagine my surprise when my barefoot- yes barefoot- son comes in the house wheezing from an asthma attack! In case you live somewhere where it’s like 80 outside, let me tell you, I live nowhere near you! It’s freezing here! This morning with the windchill it was -25! It wasn’t quite that cold Sunday, but it was pretty cold! Of course, the pile of shoes by the door were not taken advantage of and he had just been running around outside barefoot for about 10 minutes!
This fact was not fully digested until much later. During church he mentioned- ok whined- that his feet hurt. I figured it was the typical reaction to being very cold and warming up- the tingly, strange feeling. The rest of the day, he said nothing about it. And, we spent the day together- playing games and spending a great time with my sister and her family.
That night, when I picked him up from youth group I asked how it went. “Fine- except I couldn’t really run because of the blisters on my feet.” What?! When we got home, I looked at his red, swollen feet and saw huge blisters on one toe on each foot. We had him soak his feet in epsom salt. Why? I don’t know. Isn’t epsom salt a good cure for anything?
By the next morning, the number of blistered toes was increasing. So, I called his doctor hoping she could just tell me he was fine and what to do. No such luck. After a trip to the doctor’s office, we found out he has 1st and 2nd degree burns on his toes and part of his feet. They put a burn cream on him, wrapped his feet and sent us on our way.
So, now, we are changing the wrap daily and putting the medication on and hopefully never running through the snow barefoot- especially with a million shoes right by the door!
Tomorrow is Another Day 