Hamzah with a partial cast after stepping on a pencil
Yea, that's the pencil sticking up through his shoe - the tip is gone 'cause it went into his foot!
Boys will be boys! Hamzah was at school, waiting for me to come from my St. Paul student teaching postion when he decided that he was bored and thought, I'll brake a pencil with my shoe! Only problem was, the pencil went right through the bottom of his nearly new shoes and into his foot. Off to the emergency ward. They numbed him up, dug around and decided to send him home. Hamzah kept complaining about the pain on the top of his foot and so they decided to take an xray to make sure nothing was broken. Lo and behold they found a huge piece of graphite way up in his foot. They put him in a partial cast and told us to seee a ortho specialist. We did and she scheduled Hamzah for surgery. She thought Hamzah was great and took his picture and a picture of his shoe and thanked him for the best story - none of her colleagues could beat this story. (As his mother, I was finding it hard to be proud!) As it turned out, two days before surgery and while I was in Chicago, the piece of graphite made its way out of his foot. Over the next week, three pieces of wood also made their way out.
The kids at school have decided to use him in their science fair next year - they want to fgure out how the pencil went straight through the shoe and how the body expels foreign matter.
Other happenings - Hyder battled Diverticulitis, Asiyah had a hairline fracture to her hand, evryone has had pink eye in our house. On the bright side; Omar is one class away from gratuating from high school and Janice graduates from college on the 12th. Today my girls are participating in the MS walk - I was to go with them but I have an infected toe and can't wear shoes.
Never a dull moment - but I'm glad I'm done with school to enjoy these moments!
Ouch. I suppose it's good pencils use graphite these days rather than lead. Congratulations on your pending graduation.
Janice! I lost count of the misery in your house, but was the last one an infection in your toe that prevented your wearing a shoe?? My goodness. Someone is burning a black candle on you. I was really sorry to hear all of the tales, especially Hamzah's pencil. Long ago I had a friend who brushed her cheek with a sharp pencil and a piece of the lead went in and stayed there forever. No matter what they tried (this was in the 40's) there was no erasing the small black mark on her face. I think Hamzah suffered a lot more pain than my friend did, though, especially when those chunks were making their escape through his foot.
Congratulations to you on gaining your Bachelor's degree. I'm proud of you and I know your family is too. It's not easy running a household and working away from the house and being a student all at the same time.
I hope all those other ailments are now healed and in the past.
Oh my goodness - what a story! Patrick was camping with a group he camps with each year for his former soccer coach's son's birthday. Anyway, one year, he stepped on a rusty nail that was attached to a 2x4 board. It happened on a Saturday night. I wasn't told about it until he got home at 4:00 the next afternoon. His coach mentioned that Patrick had stepped on a nail when he dropped him off. They didn't even wash it off with water! The coach said he wiped it with a napkin - one that didn't have too much junk on it. I pictured that the nail just barely pierced the skin. Patrick showed me how he had to get the nail out of his foot by standing on the board and pulling his leg up. Of course, I was horrified and kept thinking, "And they didn't even wash it out with soap and water!" They were camping on 5 acres on side of the coach's dad's house so they could have gone up there to wash it. But these are boys camping and couldn't be bothered with that foolishness! The puncture site was red and swollen when he got home so off to the emergency room we went. He got a shot and an antibiotic and it was sore for a while.
Congratulations, Janice, on your graduation - that is wonderful! Do you have a teaching position for next year?
I can't believe that pencil went straight through his shoe and foot like that! When my students used to come to me several times a day with broken pencils I used to wish for stronger pencils, but my goodness, that pencil beats it all.
Congratulations on your upcoming graduation, Janice! Working and going to school while raising a family is no easy feat- I know you're glad it's over.
Most of the ailments are healed and were just waiting for the next ones. I don't know what I would do if we had a plain old dull week of nothing happening. Hamzah has always been my "what if" kid. What if I throw a baseball at a window, what if I step on a pencil with my shoe, what if I cast this fishing line before my sister is out of the way? (Aminah got hooked by Hamzah a few years back) I know in a few years it will all pay off - he'll be some great scientist or adventurer and discover great things, but in the mean time I'm trying to survive his weekly bouts with curiousity.
Sue, I've taught four years of kindergarten and two years of first grade at a private school. I know I can continue on there, but I am also looking into public school teaching. I'll have to decide in the next few weeks which direction I'll go.
You just made my day, Janice. One day all those stories of Hamzah's will serve a great purpose in teaching others what if, and why.
I am happy to report that we have been accident free, and serious illness free, since the end of November last year when Julia broke a couple of fingers. Knock wood.