Speaking from Experience

At work we talk about expertise. The goal is to build expertise so that your analysis of situations becomes better and more sophisticated. Then you pass that expertise on to others so that they can hopefully learn from your experience.

Let me pass some expertise on to all of you:

When you hear a loud crash from upstairs, do not walk, RUN.

When you see your three year old daughter buried underneath a five foot dresser, covered in glass and rocks from her broken fish bowl, get her out of there immediately.

Calm her screaming down before you try to determine what is and is not broken. Get that shard off glass that is sticking out her neck OUT OF HER NECK.

Get her in the shower to get the glass out of her hair and off of her body.

Get in the bath with her and just hold her. Put ice on the huge bump on her head while you are in there. Have her move every limb and appendage that she has to make sure they are OK Ask her how old she is, when her birthday is, and where she goes to school.

THANK GOD that Grandma is there and knows what to look for in terms of concussions, broken bones and appendages.

THANK GOD that Dad is there and that he bounds up stairs quicker and that he pulled her out from under all that debris before she got crushed, and that he took care of cleaning the room so you could take care of her.

THANK GOD that Grandpa was there to calm you when you broke down when it was all over and the Bean was watching Spongebob.

Realize that you need to treasure the people you love because they can be taken away from you at any moment. Moo and Bean, when you read this years and years from now, promise your mom that you will treasure each other as much as your Mommy and Daddy treasure you. You almost lost one another today, so never take for granted the fact that you have one another now.

Finally, you probably should not write blog posts an hour after your youngest daughter almost crushes herself to death. I had to do something, and this is how I work things out. Sorry if this got a little maudlin.