ouchhhh!!

Two days back, kunju sat by the main entrance stairs and waited for me to get her mum mum ( lunch ). Since she was sitting alone, i called out to her from the kitchen, like always, to have a conversation while i was filling her plate with the delicious yummm food prepared for her. She suddenly started running and before i knew it, she kind off tripped on her slippers and fell straight on her face. I was hardly 2 feet away and picked up my loudly wailing kunju immediately telling her that it was ok to fall..never mind.. you should run careful.. and then, i saw..it was not just the shock of falling down that make most kids cry hysterically … her entire mouth was BLOODY.

There was no one at home.. not even my maid.. neither bridge… and she clung on to me tight crying out like crazy. I remained calm and kept patting her back and reassuring her that it was ok..she’ll be fine soon. My insides were hyper while i was pretending all was fine..or at least would soon be. Was her teeth broken? was there a big cut? was she hurt again the same place she was hurt as a baby? there was no way to tell, as she wasn’t prepared to face me, so i could look. My maid had gone downstairs and was to come up anytime. I made sure i dont take her next to any mirror lest her bloody mouth scare the wits out of her. And i was hoping my maid doesnt come back before kunju had settled, as the maid would react with a huge dramatic expression on seeing kunju’s bloddy mouth which definitely wouldn’t help. So, here i was, trying to pacify her and wondering quickly what i should do. Unlike my good old bombay, where i can step out any part of the day or night, wave my hand out and have some form of public transport at my disposal, KL is quite painful. We need to call for a taxi over the phone, and have to call a couple of agency’s to get hold of one. phew!! so.. how was i to rush her to the clinic if she had a cut or something. bridge was also far away.. and also busy with meetings. He was unlikely to even answer my call.. i would have to sms him…ooofhhh!!

Kunju wouldn’t hear any of what i was trying to tell her.. asked her to sit on my lap.. naaaaa!! no way.. she was just crying and wailing.. her head across my shoulders, me just left with no clue about the state of her mouth. I tried to wet a napkin to clean her mouth, but she is too smart even in this painful stage and immediately started reacting to the wet napkin saying that she didn’t want it. Great!! I strolled around with her in a calm manner, continuously rubbing her back, assuring her that IT was ok. Nothing had happened. Crying still at high pitch.

Then, ( this is why i adore the idiot box sometimes ) barney came to my rescue.. i quickly switched her DVD on.. and the minute she heard barney’s laugh, her crying stopped, she sat on my lap, and all was forgotten.. hain???? ya..you read right.. . i am not kidding.. all this drama happened for 5 mins till barney started. I could finally see her frontal, her eyes hooked to the TV, i examined her mouth, it was a cut on the lip.. and had swollen up.. but that’s that..no teeth broken..no major injury.. she was busy licking her own lip and i cleared her mouth with the same wet napkin that she threw a tantrum not long ago.. she was already hungry, and then this crazy unwanted fall happened. So i made her sit on the couch while i got plate… fed her small portions in the spoon careful about not touching her upper swollen lip. She ate without feeling pain while eating..a sign that it was really OK.

My maid turned up and i signaled her quickly to stay mum.. she couldn’t understand what i was saying.. then i told her in action that kunju had fallen and that she must not react.. She understood and played calm. Thank gawwd she hadn’t seen the initial bloody mouth status. SHe would have gone hysterical and shaken me up too. After this, i got thinking that the last time kunju fell , had a bloody chin with a cut also, nobody was around. I am glad it’s been that way and i am really glad that i was ALWAYS around at such times cause i think no one ( doesn’t matter if i sound too full of myself ) can handle it as calmly as i can. Everybody tends to panic, passing the panic vibes to an already frightened child which only worsens the whole situation. The child may not even be hurt very badly, but the red color streaming out from a tiny tot can be every unnerving and needs presence of mind to be dealt with.

Another reason i am happy that she fell when i was around, and not when she has been with just the maid. Any one such accident happen around just the maid, and the maid will feel bad, feel irresponsible, wonder if i am blaming her secretly, and stop kunju from running all together, in fear that she may fall again. hain?? I keep telling my maid to let kunju be, not over protect in fear that kunju might get hurt. “One doesn’t stop eating if one gets food poisoned, do we?” i try explaining to her.

Kunju seems to changing every 2 days. She has been knocking herself on the head at least 10 times in a day.. sometimes, she knocks herself, massages her own head, says ” never mind ” to herself and carries on.. hahaha..many times, she doesnt even notice the head banged against something despite the huge thud noise i hear. You won;t believe this, the angelic looking kunju has started pushing around sometimes in the play area. Now this is something most parents wouldn’t be happy with, but i am thrilled to bits, cause this tells me that she CAN stand up for herself. All along, she has been the one to let ALL the kids push their way through her to take the toy or the music instruments like shaker etc from the box and only then would madam quietly take it for herself.. Of course , i don’t encourage her to push. The first few times, i didn’t even realise it, i thought she was holding the girl’s arm to ask her to go forward and slide.. but i was caught off guard when she PUSHED her back and slid herself!! I said sorry to the other girl and her mom and told kunju that that’s a bad thing to do, but i was over joyed deep inside. Over joyed to know the different layers this quiet kunju creature can have. That she did after all have the fighter cock streak in her, something she has got to have inherited only from me bridge is too much of a softy and people’s person to fight, offend or sound harsh. Me on the other hand , i can be quite brutally honest and will fight all the way against anything that affects me in a negative way.

Whether she grows up to be a calm & patient person like her dad, or an outspoken , hyper person like me is to be seen. A perfect balance however, would be awesome.. no?