the view from my window

our kitchen sink has a window that overlooks the front yard.

last week i was washing dishes with the window open.  norton, townsend and ellory were out front playing football when i heard first a shriek and then, "daddy! i'm going to die!"  i quickly looked out to see ellory lying on her side clutching her left knee.

for some reason, i seemed frozen to the spot as i watched norton run over to her.  he assured her that she wasn't going to die and then proceeded to very methodically calm her down and assess the damage.  it was a pretty amazing sight to see. 

"lay back, ellory"
"put your head down"
"breathe, ellory"
"townsend, go get mommy-quick!"
"wiggle your toes on your right foot-good"
"straighten out your right leg-good"
"turn over onto your back-good"

we tried to peek under her knee to see if a bone was sticking out or if there was a big lump. everything seemed ok.

"can you wiggle your toes on your left foot? good"
"let's see if you can straighten out your leg. slowly-good"

norton gently moved her leg around a little and then helped her up.

"put your toes on the ground-good"
"take a little step-good"

she hobbled and hopped with appropriate pain noises all the way to the house where marin took over care. blankets and stuffed animals were brought to the couch. ice packs were placed on the leg and ellory enjoyed being the queen for a bit.

and once again i was thankful for a husband and daddy whose engineer/analytical mind kicked in with such calm and control in a scary situation.

it was a good view.