Boys will be boys, so the saying goes.
Even though he’s very well-mannered and generous, Kabir has always behaved in a manner that is distinctly different from Khushi’s, and more or less typical of “boys”. There’s a lot more energy and excitement with the simplest of activities. There’s a lot more need to keep him busy and entertained. Even when he plays with “Khushi didi’s” toys, he plays with them differently.
It’s not just the fact that having two kids is ten times more work than having one child! It’s also the fact that our second one is a boy! So, it was only a matter of time before his boundless energy was going to be the cause of an injury. And, that day came last week.
I was at home playing with Kabir, while Sonali and Khushi were out on some errands. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he decided to jump off the edge off our bed…
His face hit the edge of the dressing table near his lip and left a big gash.
The next half hour or so went by in a flash. He burst into tears. I rushed him to the washroom and put some ice on his wound. Till the bleeding stopped, I couldn’t really tell if it was just the outside of his face or he’d even lost some teeth. After a few minutes, it became clear that it was his lip.
The gash was about half an inch, and deep. It was bleeding for a good 20 minutes or so. I keep on putting ice and tried to keep him distracted with a new toy, but I knew that the wound would hurt, and so would the ice. I’m not very good at the sight of blood, but there was no one else around.
Eventually, the bleeding stopped. Sonali and Khushi returned home. We assessed the wound and decided that it would need not stitches. Some ultra-fast, ultra-effective homeopathic doses later, the open wound began to close up.
We both heaved a small sigh of relief, knowing fully well that this was just the first of many more exciting episodes in the years to come…
