A full day of explanations

Yesterday was a tough day for A Bird, she was playing at daycare and got poked in the eye with a toy. She cried a little bit but then seemed fine, so the daycare went on with their day. So she had lunch and then went down for a nap, but after her nap she would start crying hysterically off and on and complaining about her eye. Daycare called L Bird, L Bird then called the doctor and then me. I left work, picked A Bird up and headed to the doctors.

On the ride to the doctor’s office, in between sobs A Bird would ask a question. Her first question, which I assume is all little kids’ first question when going to the doctor, “Am I going to get a shot?” I explained to her that no she wasn’t going to get a shot, that she probably just had a small scratch on her eye and the doctor would give us drops or an ointment to put in it to help it heal. Even while in pain, A Bird’s inquisitive nature kicked in:

A Bird: Dad, what’s an oinkment?

Me: Its called OIN-T-MENT, and its like a thick cream or lotion that you put on your eye.

A Bird: Oh ok, but Dad, what does heal mean?

Me: Heal means to get better.

A Bird: But it’s a piece of bread too, right Dad?

Me: Yes, there is Heal which means to get better, and then there is heel which is a piece of bread. They are two words that sound the same but are spelled different.

A Bird: Oh OK, Dad.

We went in to the doctor’s office and yep, she has a small scratch on her eye, nothing serious but the Doctor was going to prescribe an ointment to put on just to prevent infection. He called it into Wegmans and me and A Bird were off and rolling for Weggies.

On to explanation number two. We get to Wegman’s and we still have a couple of minutes to wait before the prescription is filled so A Bird had a cookie and we waited right there at the pharmacy. While waiting a mentally challenged young man was in line with his mother and he was grunting and starting to scream. First it was low but progressively got louder and louder. Every time he would scream A Bird would look at me and I could see that she was very terrified, Then eventually she would cover her ears and just look at me, so I would reassure her that he was just upset and everything was ok.

A Bird: Dad, why is that guy screaming?

Me: Well, he is upset and doesn’t really want to wait in line.

A Bird: Yeah, but he’s different than us, right Dad?

Me: What do you mean different?

A Bird: I don’t know, he’s different.

Me: Yes he is a little different, he is upset and he doesn’t know how to tell his Mom he is upset any other way than to scream. His brain works a little different than yours and mine, but I’m sure he is a real nice guy when he is not upset.

A Bird: Ok Dad.

I mean I’m not the most politically correct, but I couldn’t get mentally challenged across to A Bird to help her understand and I really don’t like the words Mentally Retarded or or any variations of the second word, because I was called that many times as a kid because of my CP, so I did the best I could but she is too smart to be happy with the answer above for long.

But anyway we were on our way home finally, but wouldn’t you know it, we walk out of Wegman’s and there are two cop cars and two police officers loosely restraining an enraged older gentleman. He is bright red in the face, waving his arms, cursing and speaking gibberish. His buddy is talking to the cops, and trying to calm his friend down enough to talk to them too and A Bird and I walked right out into the middle of it.

A Bird: Dad, look police cars!!! Are those guys in the black pants policemen?

Me: Yes I see the police cars and yes those are policemen.

A Bird: Why are they holding that man like that?

Me: Well, they want to talk to him and he wants to walk away so they are holding his arm so he won’t walk away while they are talking to him.

A Bird: But they’ll let him go when they are done talking right?

Me: Yes, they will let him go or they’ll give him a ride in the police car. But look they let him go and that guy and his friend are going home.

A Bird: Oh that’s good, I think he was a little different too Dad.

Me: I think so too.

So luckily for me, the police didn’t have to cuff this guy and take him away. They realized that he was just an angry, slightly crazy old man and just sent him on his way. The two police that were there were good cops and used their common sense. I was very relieved because that would have been a very different explanation to make.

Yep, yesterday was a full day for A Bird and I.