Bruised and battered, but brave

Thanks for inquiring after his well-being: Doug is doing much better after his bike mishap a week and a half ago. He was commuting home by bike (his convertible was in the shop for all sorts of expensive problems) and the chain slipped. As he maneuvered off the road, he hit a curb and flipped over on his head. The boys — veterans of urgent care visits — fussed over him, offering him stuffed animals and blankets to cuddle.

Luckily the X-rays came back fine and he was sent home with painkillers for a sprained shoulder. Turns out, sprained shoulders really hurt. After a painful week, he's regained mobility and is doing much better. And the convertible ... good riddance to bad rubbish. He's driving a Prius now and everyone is happy.

Friday morning, however, Doug was back at urgent care — this time with Calvin, who wiped out on his scooter on the way to school. He got a nasty cut near his eye, in addition to some big scrapes, and his arm hurt. X-rays of his cheek and arm showed no damage and the cut didn't require stitches. He made it back to school that morning, sore and ugly but fine. He's sporting quite a shiner now.

He's a little uncomfortable with the attention he's getting: Strangers at the market winced and asked what happened, and several kids at school Friday ran to me to let me know Calvin was hurt. (Did they think I was unaware?)

Crossing our fingers we'll get through the coming week without another trip to urgent care.