Family Emergencies during the workday

When the workday starts, family life does not end. Managing family emergencies during the workday can be a real hassle.

We had a late start to the day today. I think the alarm clock needs to be moved to another location in the bedroom. I figure if I have to find the alarm clock I might wake up a bit faster. Fortunately, Bridget slept in bed with us last night. If she hadn't been kicking me in the ribs this morning I would probably still be asleep.

Last month Bridget broke her thumb (the large one between the first thumb knuckle and the wrist) in an accident at Bounce-U. She has been wearing a splint wrapped in ACE bandages for a month now. Yesterday Sandra took her to the Orthopedic Specialist for another X-Ray and examination. The Doctor told us Bridget needs to wear the splint for another two-weeks. Bummer.

So, last night Sandra removed the splint and gave Bridget a bath. After the bath I re-wrapped the splint. I must have done something wrong because Bridget did not sleep very well. She woke up crying about her hand hurting. We remove the splint and tried to wrap her hand again. But, she squirmed and squirmed, which made it really hard to put the splint back on. We eventually got it back on.

Now, we were already running late for school and work. Re-wrapping the splint delayed us even more. After re-wrapping the splint Bridget still wasn't happy. I couldn't see anything wrong with the splint so I went downstairs to finish dressing the kids and make breakfast while Sandra finished getting dressed. When Sandra finished she took the older two kids, Spencer and Bailey, to the bus stop. I fed Bridget, who was in an awful mood. Then I packed her up in the car and drove to her day care.

When I dropped Bridget off she was v-e-r-y clingy. She just wanted to be held, and it broke my heart to leave her at day care. But, I knew she was in great hands because Jenny (her favorite teacher) was there. Without much delay I left the day care and hot-footed it up the hill to my office. Still running late....

About an hour later my wife called to let me know the day care called because Bridget has not stopped crying since I left her there. Sandra said she would go check on her and see if the splint is causing trouble. I hung up. A few minutes later Sandra called to tell me she had a last-minute meeting and couldn't go check on Bridget after all. So, I let my co-workers know I was going down the hill to the day care. As I was getting in my car Sandra called me. She said the meeting was over and she could go check on Bridget. So, I went back inside to let my co-workers know I was not going to the day care after all.

Sandra called me later to say she re-wrapped the splint. It appeared the rough part of the splint was rubbing Bridget's hand. So Sandra put a bandaid and some ointment on the rubbed area. Bridget was in a much better mood afterward.

In situations like this it is nice to have things resolved to everyone's satisfaction. I am glad Sandra was able to check on Bridget. Actually, Sandra was able to hand out Bridget's birthday invitations while she was at the daycare. So, things really worked out well this time.