Prompt 2.) I was holding on tight but…
The friend I have had the longest – and by “longest,” I mean since the day I was born – grew up down the street from me. Her next door neighbor, Annette, had an above ground pool in her backyard. Annette’s grandma babysat for her and her younger sister everyday, and even though Annette was a couple years younger than Dana and I, we would play with her a lot.
Whenever we’d get bored with the usual outdoor summer games like Home Free or Ghost in the Graveyard, Annette would ask her grandma if Dana and I could come swimming. Her grandma was always OK with it, and the 3 of us would gleefully throw our suits on and head to the pool.
Like typical kids, we all loved to jump in. We would take turns cannonballing, or diving, or even jumping backwards from the pool deck into the pool.
Somewhere along the way, we started jumping in from the side of the pool, too.
{If you read the prompt at the top, I’m sure you can see where this is going.}
I carefully walked along the edge of the above ground pool to a spot just perfect for jumping in.
I carefully turned myself around so my back was just perfectly facing the water.
But instead carefully jumping backward, I rather-imperfectly fell forward.
Through bushes.
And landed on my head.
In lava rock.
I don’t remember exactly what happened after that. I do recall Dana running back through Annette’s house, out the front door, and into her own house…screaming and crying the entire way.
I remember that I calmly walked back to Dana’s with my hand on my head, and as I stood in their kitchen, blood pooled at my feet.
I don’t remember what was done to make the bleeding stop, but I remember begging my mom NOT to take me to the hospital for stitches.
To this day, I have a tiny bald spot on my head from that fall. And that bald spot is something I plan to use to instill the very real dangers of slippery surfaces in my girls.
{ 42 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh my word! That sounds painful, kudos to you for not freaking out, because I surely would have!!! But it is a good teaching tool!!
Yikes!!!! Totally sounds like something my daughter will (eventually) do – I might just have to swipe your story as a cautionary tale.
wow. crazy thing. your head was bleeding?? no stitches?? how scary, but great that you’re using it as a teaching tool.
Liz, what a perfect story for that prompt! I mean, it’s scary and bloody….but perfect! And, no stitches? You big stud.
I love those battle wounds that have a good story behind them! They’re never fun at the time, but you never forget where they came from!
Shall we just call you Grace?
Those head wounds sure do bleed a lot. Always a little scary.
Yowsers. That sounds like it was bad. But definitely a great teaching tool.
see? the stupid stuff you do as a child only helps you be a better parent. the circle of life.
except I don’t have kids so the stupid stuff I did must help me be a better cat lady. it all works out.
Oh, I’m dreading the first time one of my kids bleeds excessively… I did it to my mom, but I don’t think I can take it!
Ouch! Sometimes I think of the things we used to do when we were kids and I wonder how I wasn’t killed or seriously injured. I’d use the bald spot as a lesson, too!
Ouch! That must have been bad. And scary! Head wounds always bleed such a lot but no stitches? You must be one tough cookie.
WOw!!! Lava rock? Ouchie!! Still the memories sound like they are good ones, and you can’t beat a pair of great girlfriends and a swimming pool in the summer.
Slippery surfaces are scary! I’ve busted my booty more times than I have fingers to count. Once my day slipped on the tile on back porch because I hadn’t dried off all that well after coming out of the pool! Needless to say, I felt horrible and was in a wee bit of trouble as well! Life would be so much easier if there were just a bunch of “slippery when wet” signs everywhere.
I meant my dad…once my dad, not my day….
Ohhh… yikes. We used to stage comic falls into the pool. We’re lucky something similar didn’t happen!
Just a warning, but that little bald spot will probably serve as very little warning.
Because you’re girls will just assume that you were damned clumsy, and they are invincible.
Our lessons just don’t communicate the way we want them too.
Darnit.
I think you may have more stories about getting hurt than I do.
Perhaps one day we should have an injury-off.
You had me grimacing in pain throughout!
Ack!!!! I’m glad you didn’t have to get stitches! This hurts me just to think about it.
I have a little spot on my temple that won’t grow hair either from where I hit my head a few years ago. Accidental bald spots unite!!
Ouch…my head hurts for you. I have one of those scars. Its located right on my lip. My Dad had told us a million times not to jump on the bed. Yup…I didnt listen. Now I’m glad for that scar…a very good lesson for monkey to hear
Um, ouch! You don’t realize how scary slippery surfaces are until you take a digger on one. My mom & dad’s back patio gets very slippery – we keep telling them to fix it before one of the kid’s break their head open.
All bleeding stops eventually.
Ugh! I so glad you weren’t badly injured. It’s so important to warn our children of those dangers.
Aww… that sounds painful. Hopefully your kids learn from your mistakes, and not first hand.
Definiety use the story as a teaching tool, and insist that your kids wear helmets whenever they go in Dana’s pool, lol. I can relate, I fell through a screen and onto concrete in the rain when I was in 1st grade and still have the scar to prove it.
Ouch! It’s funny how the kids with the injuries are the calm ones and the kids who are watching are the ones freaking out.
When I broke off my two front teeth in 2nd grade I was all “it’s ok we don’t need to tell mom” as my sister ran up the stairs screaming bloody murder.
Ouch! This is one of the many backyard pool horror stories that make me refuse to get one. But! You did live to tell the tale. So that’s a plus.
oh, my that sounds like a terrible fall! I too would use that as an example of why you have to be careful on slippery surfaces. My husband has a small bald spot on the back of his head where a friend threw a rock at his head, we have shown it to Myles to show him why you don’t throw rocks at people LOL! Hope you have a great weekend!
Oh ouch!! That sounds like it hurt. At least you have a good way to prove to your kids that it’s not a good idea. Not that they’ll listen, but at least you can attempt to impart your wisdom from actual experience!
With all your stories, it’s a wonder you don’t have brain damage or something. LOL – gracious, WOMAN!
That is so scary. Did y’all get to go swimming any more after that?
All I can think of when I heard Lava Rocks was Ouch!
I used to do what I called a Jacques Cousteau dive by squatting down with my back to the edge of the pool and falling in like a diver would.
Thanks for sharing,
Oh my gosh, that sounds sooooo painful!! I too get anxious with kids/people running around pools and other wet surfaces….seems like an accident waiting to happen to me!!
Happy you were okay…even if you have a small bald spot now
OH my…ouch! Glad you came out ok. What a life lesson huh? You have been tagged! Come on over and see what it’s all about.
Oh, wow! You are just too good at bringing a story to life with the written word! Sounds cheesy – but I could picture each part of that.
You kind of had me at “Ghost in the Graveyard”! Ah, memories.
I have 2 scars on my head – where I got stitches. One from falling off my bed because I was laughing so hard when I was like 7 and one from where something my brother threw at me sliced my head open.
We should start a head injury club…
I love scars! They show character and a life lived! I also begged not to have stitches after getting hit by a car at the beach as a kid. I have particularly ugly feet because of it!
Very well told story – I am sure that scar reminds you always of this misadventure. I have no external scars, just a horribly misaligned shoulder thanks to breaking my collarbone when aged seven, fighting with the boys
Oh my Liz, the war wounds of childhood! You know it’s kind of funny, this is what it says by your fauvicon: “Falling Off Side of Pool/Cracking Head”…guess that kind of says it all.
Yikes!!! I’m so glad that you didn’t get hurt even worse. But you are right. Sometimes the hardest lessons make the best teaching tools. I hope your girls listen and don’t have to learn that one on their own!
ouch! parenting: it’s all about correcting the mistakes we made as children. at least those we remember.
I have a backwards “J” on my left hand that will serve that very same purpose. Except I was standing on a kitchen chair (bad Kallay!) and reaching for a bowl that shattered when I (and it) fell to the floor.
And they say only boys end up in the ER. Psh!
My internet kept cutting out yesterday and I didn’t get a chance to read this. I could have used one of those bald patches many times over the years! All I have is a “be careful using your dad’s double side razor on your legs” but I don’t think they even make those anymore.