When coffee tables attack

by Bethany Sanders (Subscribe to Bethany Sanders's posts) Mar 29th 2008 2:00PM

Categories: Toddlers, Preschoolers, Teens & tweens, Health & Safety

When my nephew lost his two front teeth to the coffee table at age 2, my brother was so hurt/angry/upset that he threw the coffee table down the basement stairs and swore they would never use it again. It was that incident that made us move our own table to the basement when our old daughter started walking, to prevent a similar accident.

We moved it back upstairs this winter, hoping we were out of the head-bonking woods, but last night my three-year-old stumbled and hit the corner of the table...with her eye. Luckily, nothing is permanently damaged, but she has a pretty nasty shiner.

Every time my kids hurt themselves, I wish I had one of those cute little cool-paks to help them take their mind off their injury. Instead, all they get is a washcloth wrapped in ice. It does the trick, along with some TLC, but I always think that something a little more special might take the edge of the pain. So today I'm looking around and may just order my favorite. Or I'll put it off and forget until the next time someone takes a tumble.

How do you make your kids feel better when they get hurt?

Fun ways to soothe those ouchies(click thumbnails to view gallery)

Comments (12)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

jane 3-29-2008 @ 3:10PM

I will say my piece and then maybe won’t make any more comments here. Finally, a personal post I thought. You said “nephew” AND “daughter” and I thought Hallelujah!!!! Praise be, a REAL story. Only to find it was about a stupid “Boo Boo Buddy??” You’ve got to be kidding me! What in the world is happening here? I’ve been calving, I’m a farmer and newly pregnant and have been working my tail off for the last 6 weeks with no more than 3 hours of sleep at a stretch. Last night my husband took our 3 year old to his parents for the evening so I could have a little alone time. SO….I hadn’t had time for PD lately making only a comment or two at a time here and there. I sit down and what’s here??? Felt Petit Fours and Pouncy things?? Rogers swimming lessons are the closest to a real story than anyone’s. Kept me occupied for two minutes. That was good. Oh, and I could read a conversation in baby talk over at Linda’s along with 20 other people doing it!! Please, what’s the deal here? The only other posts that even came close to looking good had very misleading headlines and were disappointing (to me).

I can see not to many folks are commenting either so maybe it’s not just me. The only reasoning I can see is Kristin saying “no more personal stuff” but I can’t imagine why. All these posts are, are small news stories with a bunch of celeb stuff. I can read those on my homepage and I came to PD for a little comfort from the community that used to be here. I just wanted to say I’m sad about it and will miss those of you who used to write real stuff and to those of you commenters that I used to enjoy reading about.

Jen Henry 3-29-2008 @ 4:20PM

Hi Jane,
I totally understand what you're saying. When I first started coming to PD, I think it was about a year or so ago I loved it. I enjoyed reading the personal stories that were often tied in to a larger political or social piece. I kept coming back every day. I agree with you though, I really feel things have changed in the past few months with a greater emphasis on products and celebrities. That was one of the biggest reasons I gave up many of the periodicals I was subscribing to and turned to the internet for more parenting stories. I just wanted to know that I wasn't the only parent out there in the world that had a 3 year old that did something strange or a 2 year old that didn't do something he should. I currently have my own blog, it's pretty small, I think at this point just my friends and family read it, but I've been toying with the idea of starting another blog and inviting all the parents I know to blog with me and share their parenting stories. Most of my friends I've spoken with thus far have said they'd give blogging a try. It sounds like it may be a lot of work but a lot of fun too. If you ever want to join us someday let me know. :)

Jen

http://furoreandfrenzy.com

jane 3-29-2008 @ 5:01PM

Hi Jen, I would think about blogging. It scares me a little bit. But I used to love to sit here and comment back and forth about things but it's not doing it for me any longer. When I do have a little free time, this is so easy. Let me know what I need to do. I know nothing about blogging. This site has almost turned into an advertisement with snippets of news that have nothing to do with anything that I come here for. If I want felt food, I'd go look for it!

I need a Nolan, Bean, Wito, Mr. Pickles, Ellie, Jared, Sarah, Kyle, Hudson, Tasman FIX really bad!!!

Bethany, this has NOTHING to do with you. I wanted to let you know that.

Bethany Sanders 3-29-2008 @ 7:09PM

Jane,

I appreciate your comment. For what it's worth, my story *was* a real one, my daughter's black eye is proof. And my desire to have something to comfort her was sincere as well. (Though rather than purchase something, I've chosen to try the beany in the freezer trick.)

My gallery was not a way to "push" products, simply a reflection of my own research (if you can call it that) that I thought I'd share with readers.

I know I haven't been around here very long, but personal posts or no, I think the Parent Dish bloggers are a pretty sincere bunch. I was a reader before I was blogging here and I continue to enjoy their posts. I hope you will too.

Thanks for reading and sharing your opinions,

Bethany

Jen Henry 3-29-2008 @ 5:11PM

Hi Bethany,
I wanted to add on what Jane said. This is nothing personal about you either. :) I just enjoy the more personal posts is all. I think as a parent we're all looking to connect a little more with other parents and know that we're not alone.

As far as boo-boos go, we use the old fashioned boo-boo bunnies. We make one out of a washcloth. I actually think it was featured here on PD a few weeks back. You use a rubber band to tie the ears. It's free and cute.

I have picked up some regular kids ice packs in the dollar section at Target before. They had Hello Kitty and Spiderman on them and are great for traveling and tossing in a cooler.

(and Jane...and just added more details on my blog...)

Jen
http://furoreandfrenzy.com

Joy 3-29-2008 @ 5:25PM

AMEN to both of you. Don't leave me out! I can be the menopausal "old lady" of the group.

Jennifer 3-29-2008 @ 7:34PM

Thank you!!! I have been reading Parentdich.com for over a year and am expecting my first. I always loved Parentdish for it's personal feel. Now it seems like everytime I am on I'm reading stuff that is posted on tmz, people or perezhilton. I know Kristin has said that they have been told to do more celebrity blogs and whatnot...uummm if I wanted celebrity blogs I would go to a celebrity blog site and if I wanted stuff that wasn't related to parenting I would go elsewhere. I am just about ready to give up on Parentdish all together.

BTW- if you need a new mother blogger count me in. :-)

Gia 3-30-2008 @ 12:15AM

Go to Target or Wal-mart. In the Pharmacy section close to the band-aids, there are ice packs that are Cartoon Characters Heads and stuff now. they just started coming out with them and they do take their minds off the pain.

Kristin 3-30-2008 @ 12:19AM

Folks, thank you for your comments and feedback here. Our core readers and commenters at ParentDish are totally important to us and we want to keep you around. I am sending every piece of feedback you give us to the powers-that-be and will personally work to ensure that we put content out, every day, that you want to read.

Feel free to email me personally at bloggingbabykristin@gmail.com.

heather 3-31-2008 @ 6:19PM

My son did that with the corner of the bed, in the middle of the night. I didn't have my glasses on so I couldn't see a thing. It looked like he had broken his cheek bone. Very scary.

bree 4-07-2008 @ 12:37PM

I'm so glad to read about another tooth story! My baby boy lost his front tooth at only eight months old when he pulled to stand on the dog's crate, lost his balance and smacked his face into it. We had put corner protectors on the thing, but obviously that wasn't enough. The worst part is that I was right next to him when it happened, just couldn't react quickly enough. He wailed for a few minutes, but stopped quickly with a cuddle from me. I cried for days, and I still have moments when I re-live the accident and feel horrible all over again. I think kids are stronger than we are in these things. My boy expressed the pain and then moved on ... I was the one who couldn't let it go.

isisaquaria 4-07-2008 @ 1:52PM

Guys- you can not protect them from everything. They are gonna find something. No table? How about a wall-my oldest was 6 and got a black eye from the corner of the wall-she was walking, turned to call the dog and boom-the wall moved out in front of her. It was awful.

BTW, this was a personal article-so many times someone has asked about a product mentioned or in pics
that the writers put the info there for you to use- if you choose. I did not see it as an ad for a product at all.

How To Submit Photos:
If you'd like your children (any age will do!) featured on ParentDish, upload photos into the ParentDish Flickr Pool. Be sure to read our main Flickr page for more information.