I hear the kids fighting and Charlie screaming. I knew it was not her normal "my brother is bothering me and being mean" scream. And I hear her say, "Brantley this is serious. Go get mom." between cries. He did not get to go far because I was right there.
Charlie tells me that B threw gas in her face. Now, I am a normally calm person when "things" happen. This sent me over the edge. I looked at B and told him to sit down and don't move. (For those of you that know my son you know this is impossible. He did it.) Everything in me said flush her eyes with water but then I thought what if water is not what I should be flushing her eyes with. So, I did what I have done 10 other times since her birth and I called poison control.
Charlie is screaming uncontrollably. I could barely hear what was being said on the other end of the phone. But what I did hear scared me to death. It was an answering machine. What!!!! You don't get a message when you call poison control. You get a person. So, I hung up and dialed 9-1-1. At this point I shook Charlie a little and told her she had to calm down so that I could hear what 9-1-1 was saying. I told Jana what had happened and asked what I needed to do. She said she was sending the fire department and EMT to wait till they got there. Now, when I am sane I know that the next move is not the move I should have made. I watch enough "cop" shows on TV to know that I should stay on the line with 9-1-1. I was scared and frustrated. I knew that the fire department was on their way but this lady (I did not know her name at the time) was not telling me what to do now. I am not a person to stand around and wait for help. So, I hung up. Charlie was still screaming uncontrollably. I wrapped my arms around her and prayed. It was the only thing I knew to do to calm her down and by now I was beginning to feel like I was going to lose it too. I prayed that God would calm us down. That's it. Help us calm down.
I said amen and dialed poison control again. This time I got Ken. Ken told me to flush her eyes with room temperature water over the bridge of her nose for 15 minutes. Okay, Thank you Ken. That I can do. I cleaned off the counter laid Charlie across it and proceeded to begin doing just what Ken had said. Have you ever tried to pour water into a child's eyes that is trying to rub them w/ gas on her hands. Not fun and not really the "right" way that Ken said I needed to do it.
I heard the fire engine's pull up and sent B to open the door. B opened the door called to the firemen and came and sat back down where I had put him. The wonderful men came in. Talked to me for a few minutes. Assured me that I had done the right thing and that even if I thought I had done no good with the flushing of the eyes, I would really be surprised. The two men took care of Charlie. I was now calm. They would know exactly what to do and how to do it.
I stepped back and looked at my house. There was a pile of dirty laundry. There was a pile of dirty dishes. There was not a flat surface in my house clean. There was an orange peel and Cheetos on the floor leftover from B's scavenging he does. All I could think about was that it was the last week of school. I don't clean my house the last week of school. I am too busy. Would the firemen turn me into DHS for being an unfit parent b/c they got into the gasoline and my house is a pit. Yes, I know crazy talk.
They firemen put 1500ml of fluid over her eyes. We changed her shirt and washed her hands. (I did not think to do these things before the firemen got there.) The EMT's came looked over C and left. We opted for no ambulance ride but went to the after hours clinic instead. When we arrived there, D had already checked us in. This is the second time this year he has met us at the clinic while being at work. (I love his new job.) The nurse came out almost immediately to check on C. She said it would be a pretty long wait but they wanted to check on her before they left us waiting. This is something that I loved. Yes, we had to wait almost 2 1/2 hours to see the doctor but they came out to make sure that she was okay enough to wait.
The doctor died Charlie's eyes glow in the dark yellow. Looked through a special large magnifying glass at her Cornea to make sure that there were no chemical burns. I am praising God at this point that C wears glasses. She may have gotten a little in her eyes but the majority was on her clothes and glasses. We got an all clear from the doctor and went home.
Now, here is the part where I am just incredibly thankful that God gave me this little girl. We talked about how this was something she could write in her journal while I was putting B to bed. She could write about when B threw gas on her. She could write about the firemen or the EMT's. Or, she could write about how the doctor gave her glow-in-the dark cat eyes. She asked if she could write about what was in her heart.
So, while I put B to bed. She wrote about her heart. Her dictation was this "In my heart there were two sides. The white side and the purple side. The purple side was of Satan. I had to choose. I chose the white side because it was of Heaven." I asked her to explain.
"The purple side was of Satan mommy. It was all my being mad at my brother, and being scared, and being mad, and I was so angry and scared and it hurt. The white side was from God. When you prayed I chose to let God calm me down and you breathed with me (I don't remember breathing but it is what I say to calm my kids down so maybe I did.) You breathed and I breathed and God calmed me and you down. I chose the white side. It is the side that makes me not be afraid and makes me not be mad at my brother and to forgive him."
Once again I am blown away by the words of this child. This Child that God gave to me to strengthen my faith.
I have to choose to let God calm me down.
Psalm 126:2-3
Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them." The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.
Psalm 40:3
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.
And yes, I took pictures. I just didn't take very good ones. I take pictures of EVERYTHING! And, I have to laugh because the firemen asked Charlie if her mom was a scrapbooker. See, even firemen see the importance of cameras.
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