Close Call

Today was a busy day. One that needed to go smoothly, because Jeff is working in New Mexico. After school, Allie had soccer practice from 4-5, and then we had to go back home to pick Damon up to take him to his Images of Greatness performance. He has been working on a display board, bio riddle, and costume for tonight, as he portrayed Vincent Van Gogh.

We were on a tight schedule, because Kyla had tumbling at 5:45 and Allie had dance at 7:00, so there wasn't really time for things like eating. And accidents.

After Allie's practice, we drove home to pick Damon up. I drove into the driveway and turned the car off. I didn't take the keys out of the ignition, which I should have done. I ran in to get Damon, and he needed some help printing something. Carter and McKay were waiting in the car, and the next thing I knew, I heard Carter crying. I walked outside and saw the car across the street, in front of the neighbor's house. Luckily, it was just next to the curb and not five feet over next to their mailbox (which had just barely been repaired after a delivery truck backed into it), and nothing had happened to the van or the neighbor's yard.

But Carter was crying hard and I noticed his legs were scraped up. After a lot of questioning, I pieced together that after Carter had put the car in reverse, he had panicked, opened the door, and jumped out. The tire marks on his calf told me that he had been run over by one of the tires. He cried and cried and told me that he couldn't even stand up. 

My heart dropped. I was pretty sure that he had broken a bone--his ankle looked a little red and swollen already. But we were on a tight schedule, so I threw him into the car and drove Damon up to the school.  Sitting in the parking lot, I called Jeff and told him what had happened. I wasn't freaking out, but just trying to figure out what I was going to do if I felt like he needed to get an xray. We both decided to give him a couple of hours to see how he recovered. I couldn't tell if he was crying more about the scrapes, or if there was something else wrong. So I carried him into the school (after we dropped Kyla off at her tumbling class) and we sat through the Images of Greatness performance. After about 30 more minutes, Carter was finally able to put weight on his legs, and we all heaved a hugh sigh of relief. 

Somehow, he managed to escape without any major injury. I'm not sure if the car ran over him completely, or just grazed him, but either way, I am super thankful tonight. I feel really blessed and watched over, and I know my prayers will be a little longer and a little more heartfelt tonight.