I'm sure that just by reading the title of this blog, you know where this is headed. (PLEASE RESTRAIN FROM GIVING ME "THE DANGERS OF FIREWORKS" SPEECH!) I've heard it all before! I grew up in JHW's house and he was long on speeches that he repeated over and over again until we could recite them from memory. And I've given a few of those speeches myself to my own kids. While the speeches must have done me some good (I've never been close enough to a bottle rocket for it glance off my face, dart down my shirt and explode), my son must have been at a friend's house the day I gave the fireworks speech at our house...thus boys, bottle rockets, & bandages.
Well that was the story anyway from the group of 6 boys who were somewhere they shouldn't have been doing something they knew should be supervised by an adult (and no my 18 year old does not qualify in this case as an adult-unless they would have been arrested, of course!), using something that I'm pretty sure is not legal in PA without a permit or local permission. And they're sticking to it. Regardless, my son ended up with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree burns on his neck and chest. Now most kids would have run home and immediately shown his parents, but not my son. No Sir! (He probably didn't want to hear the fireworks speech). He just washed them off and went back to his buddies, came home late and went to bed, all the while the hot gun powder was just sitting on his skin burning a hole clear through to his back. The next morning he climbed into the van, being careful to hide his burns from his comatose Dad, who had not had his morning coffee as of yet, and went to work installing in-ground pools with open, oozing lesions on his neck and chest. It wasn't until I got a call from his boss that I discovered anything had happened at all! Have you ever felt like a bad parent even though you didn't do anything wrong? I did that morning. Maybe I should start checking on them in the middle of the night like I did when they were babies.
So for the last two weeks I have been dressing burns once a day, watching for infection, and trying not to repeat the "I Told You So" speech to my son who has already probably lost his job for the summer, missed out on a trip to the beach with friend, and may have really wacky looking scars for some time. I think he might have learned something from this whole experience. I certainly did!
1) Even though I believe that boys must learn to take risks to become men, as I said to one of the other boy's mother, "We have boys. They do stupid things."
2) We pay Dr's to do practically nothing. I came to this conclusion after the Dr handed me a debriding brush and told me that if I didn't get all the gun powder out of burns they would become tattoos in my son's skin. After 2.5 hours and enough tears (my tears) to overflow the bathtub, the job was done.
3)Your boys will always be your boys, even when they have whiskers, deep sounding voices, and are taller than you. So even though they might wrinkle up their noses and wiggle away, Moms still need to hug them and tell them that they're loved. You may glean an "I love you, Mom" just when you're not expecting it. (I did!)
We're hoping that some of the burns will be able to get some air after the next check-up. My son would love to lose the mummy look. The stares he gets in public make him uncomfortable but there is a lesson in that as well. Hopefully by the time school starts again, this will be mostly passed us, although it will be months before he is completely better. Even though I feel a little guilty about thinking this way, I have enjoyed getting extra time with my son and giving him some extra attention. I fully believe that "what the devil meant for harm, God can use for our good." Already God has shown mercy in that the thing did not explode in his face, blinding him. The healing has been miraculously quick, although not quick enough for my son's liking. And as always, when tragedy strikes, the tremendous grace of God comes in and takes over making what seems impossible possible, giving hope and peace and the knowledge that we are never alone in this world.
Well that was the story anyway from the group of 6 boys who were somewhere they shouldn't have been doing something they knew should be supervised by an adult (and no my 18 year old does not qualify in this case as an adult-unless they would have been arrested, of course!), using something that I'm pretty sure is not legal in PA without a permit or local permission. And they're sticking to it. Regardless, my son ended up with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree burns on his neck and chest. Now most kids would have run home and immediately shown his parents, but not my son. No Sir! (He probably didn't want to hear the fireworks speech). He just washed them off and went back to his buddies, came home late and went to bed, all the while the hot gun powder was just sitting on his skin burning a hole clear through to his back. The next morning he climbed into the van, being careful to hide his burns from his comatose Dad, who had not had his morning coffee as of yet, and went to work installing in-ground pools with open, oozing lesions on his neck and chest. It wasn't until I got a call from his boss that I discovered anything had happened at all! Have you ever felt like a bad parent even though you didn't do anything wrong? I did that morning. Maybe I should start checking on them in the middle of the night like I did when they were babies.
So for the last two weeks I have been dressing burns once a day, watching for infection, and trying not to repeat the "I Told You So" speech to my son who has already probably lost his job for the summer, missed out on a trip to the beach with friend, and may have really wacky looking scars for some time. I think he might have learned something from this whole experience. I certainly did!
1) Even though I believe that boys must learn to take risks to become men, as I said to one of the other boy's mother, "We have boys. They do stupid things."
2) We pay Dr's to do practically nothing. I came to this conclusion after the Dr handed me a debriding brush and told me that if I didn't get all the gun powder out of burns they would become tattoos in my son's skin. After 2.5 hours and enough tears (my tears) to overflow the bathtub, the job was done.
3)Your boys will always be your boys, even when they have whiskers, deep sounding voices, and are taller than you. So even though they might wrinkle up their noses and wiggle away, Moms still need to hug them and tell them that they're loved. You may glean an "I love you, Mom" just when you're not expecting it. (I did!)
We're hoping that some of the burns will be able to get some air after the next check-up. My son would love to lose the mummy look. The stares he gets in public make him uncomfortable but there is a lesson in that as well. Hopefully by the time school starts again, this will be mostly passed us, although it will be months before he is completely better. Even though I feel a little guilty about thinking this way, I have enjoyed getting extra time with my son and giving him some extra attention. I fully believe that "what the devil meant for harm, God can use for our good." Already God has shown mercy in that the thing did not explode in his face, blinding him. The healing has been miraculously quick, although not quick enough for my son's liking. And as always, when tragedy strikes, the tremendous grace of God comes in and takes over making what seems impossible possible, giving hope and peace and the knowledge that we are never alone in this world.
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