Brown Eyed Girl

The Fireplace

....this last week I really got ready for winter. We had a lot of heavy rain, and blustery wind! It was obvious that fall was turning into winter. Inspired by the storms outside I decided it was time to get the fireplace up and running. I vaccumed out the old soot, and cleaned the glass, rearranged the fake logs and turned on the pilot light (btw this is a gas fireplace!) I turned it on with a cozy joy. I lit other candles around the house, pulled out the chenille blanket, and started baking a dinner. This little corner of the house was my new little spot of "zen". You know, a place you like to just stare, it brings you peace, it brings you joy. Even the kitties, as seen here, instantly found it to be there favorite spot too. Zach came home and was immediately thrilled by the yummy sights and smells. We planned that our evening would be a movie and dinner in front of the fireplace. WELL...... to know a little about my life is to know that usually if bad things can happen, they will happen to me and my family! I know that's a very "the glass is half empty" way of putting things, but all joking aside those who know me, will totally get it! SO, my moment of zen was interupted when my husband came into the office with a screaming toddler in tow, to inform me that she was just burned by the fireplace. Now, mind you, all day she knew not to ever touch the fireplace, she even informed Zach upon his homecoming that the fireplace was hot, and not to touch it. I was here in the office when it happened, and Zach was playing his guitar in the living room. My theory is that she was dancing around to the music and accidently brushed the back of her hand on the glass front. We soaked her red little hand in water and called the nurse hotline at our doctor's office. Sure enough, at 7:30 at night, the nurse thought we should bring her in based on the amount of white on top of the burn. The poor little thing, her little hand just shook, and swelled! Zach ran out to the garage and put up the fireplace screen, we actually already owned.........but I had failed to put up yet [enter the intense mother guilt here]. We blew out all the candles threw on jackets and rushed down to the "after hours" doctor's office. (very thankful, they offer this service in the evenings, to prevent a trip to the emergency room) So there it was, my cozy joy, my place of peace, my corner of zen.......destroyed, scarred, not to be looked at the same. Little Maddy was a trooper, she sustained a second degree burn on the back of her pointer finger knuckle down to the knuckles on the hand, then over almost to her ring finger. The doctor slathered silver cream all over wrapped her hand to look like a boxing glove and gave her juice, graham crackers and advil. We then took her out for ice cream, maybe to ease our guilt a little, I dunno, just seems the thing to do, when the little one suffers so. She's healing up quite well, and she doesn't even go near the fireplace. I think I'll be left more scarred than her, and I'm working on my healing of the guilt complex and trying to like my fireplace again......