All Battered Up!

Help! Call Police!

No, Ryno has not fallen victim to abuse. What's boyhood without a few falls, scrapes and bumps? But it is moments like these that makes me thankful my kids are all boys. Seeing a little girl possibly scarred for life like this may actually bring up some guilt in us.

Don't get too freaked out thinking that your beloved Johno and Ryno could be in peril living with a set of hard-hearted parents who just let them out on the streets by themselves to get all scratched up. Sure, we are definitely not those parents who keep their kids completely germ-free, out of the sun, and in a confined playpen 24/7; but neither are we cruel, negligent bystanders.

We like to think of ourselves as parents who allow our kids hands-on exploration, learning through experience, practising pain and disappointment management skills, and to make good choices and take any consequence like a man. All this is a safe, supervised environment, of course. The boys appear to be thriving and are happy, confident little men.

Nonetheless, I know we'll be getting many calls and emails demanding account for Ryan's injuries if we don't explain it here. So this is the story: We were at a birthday party at a friend's place. The kids were hanging out in the living room. Ryno went over to stand by the screen door, holding onto it while looking out at the yard. He then got excited and started pounding the door with his hands. This must have shaken the door off its latch coz the door then swung open and Ryno fell flat on his face onto the rough pavement outside the door. We can imagine how much that must hurt. But he just cried for about a minute and was back to laughing and playing after washing up and lots of TLC.

He's now fine and doesn't seem at all bothered by the scrapes. So please don't dial 911 or call social services on us, ok? Feel free to $end hug$ and ki$$e$ to make him feel better though.