Remember the Post About the Concussion?

Last week I wrote a post about Sue Sue's "concussion." If you'll remember, she was acting lethargic and had a bruise on her forehead. Turned out she's just a Drama Queen, because a little later she was running around with her sisters, acting like she didn't have a care in the world. Then, on Friday, that post came back to bite me in the (fill in the blank).
My daughters have reached an age where I can take a shower without fearing for their lives. At least that's what I thought. For some reason, on this particular Friday, I decided to leave the bathroom door cracked. Usually I shut it, since I take fairly quick showers. I only linger under the scorching water if Hubby is home or the girls are at school. Right before I turned off the water I heard Cakes yelling for me. What now?! I got out of the shower, dried off, wrapped myself in a towel and went to the top of the steps. Cakes said Sue Sue had fallen and "hurt herself." I told Sue Sue to come to the steps. She was whimpering and said she had fallen and hit her head. She said she was OK, so I dried my hair. 
When I came downstairs, I saw Sue Sue from across the room. The first words out of my mouth were "Holy crap!" (This led Cakes to ask "What's a holy crap?" My response: "It's naughty. Don't say it.") From across the room I could see a huge goose egg on Sue Sue's forehead. I put ice on it. The swelling didn't really go down. Apparently the girls were playing "The Three Little Pigs" and Sue Sue (a pig) fell while being chased by the wolf (Roo). She managed to hit her head on the corner of the couch (the part near the floor). Call it the equivalent of the perfect storm. She hit the couch just "right" and ended up with the aforementioned goose egg plus a scrape. So my Friday was spent monitoring her for signs of a concussion. The swelling has gone down, but a gigantic bruise remains. That will teach me to blog about non-existent concussions!

Bumps, Bruises and Traveling

I've always meant to put together a first aid kit for the car. It seems like whenever we're out and about, the odds are pretty good one of the girls will fall and hurt herself.
You think I would have learned my lesson about a month ago. I took the girls shopping for a friend's birthday gift. As we walked through the parking lot, Sue-Sue tripped and scraped her knee. Blood was everywhere and I had nothing to clean her up with. So I did what any resourceful mom would do and used her shirt to wipe off the blood. She seemed OK with that and we continued our shopping. We cleaned the owie when we came home. Then just days later we were out and Roo tripped. She had a small scrape, but it still drew blood and I had nothing to clean it with.
Now that has all changed. The other day I was at the grocery store looking for liquid band-aids and happened to see a first aid kit on clearance. It's perfect and has everything I'll need for future accidents, including antiseptic wipes, bandages and gauze.
It probably would have been cheaper to put together my own kit, but since I still hadn't done that and this was a good deal, I went ahead and bought it. I actually had a hard time finding a reliable website to offer suggestions for a kit. Here's what I finally found for you to include if you "build your own kit": bandages, gauze, medical tape, butterfly bandage strips and an elastic bandage, instant ice pack, alcohol wipes, tweezers, swabs, cotton balls, tissues, antibiotic ointment, insect sting relief pads, cortisone cream, an irrigation syringe, pain relievers and antihistamines. Phew. That about covers it, right?
Keep in mind I'm talking about medical emergencies while on the road. There are plenty of other supplies you'll need to deal with roadside/car related emergencies. For now, though, I have what I need to make sure the next time one of my girls hurts herself while we're out shopping, she won't have to walk around with blood dripping down her leg.