It's a Boy Thing

Yesterday was one of those days... the sort of day that one especially seems to have lots of when you have all boys!

Samuel and William had spent the afternoon in the garden, digging in the (empty) vegetable patch. They had set out to dig a hole but when I inspected it late afternoon it looked more like a series of trenches that Time Team would be proud of.

They showed me their collection of "pottery", "tiles", nails and "an ancient weapon" -which to my untrained eye looked more like an old nail with cement stuck to it ;0)

Joshua had spent the afternoon bowling with the over-12s from our HE group. One of the Dad's recently started this up to give the older ones (who are too old for the indoor play areas) something to do regularly that was both an activity and a chance for them to socialise.

Josh had a great time - and got the highest score of the teens apparently - but needless to say Samuel wasn't quite so happy.

When Joshua got home, Samuel wanted him to go into the garden to dig. Unsurprisingly, Joshua didn't want to!

There was a brief "discussion" with his father around the subject of dealing with younger (and especially aspie) brothers, and so Joshua rather begrudgingly went out into the garden with them.

Now, all the tools had been cleared away, but it appears that Joshua - being in somewhat of a strop (as he freely admits) - saw an old spade and fork that are used on the compost heap and decided to use the fork to take out some of his frustrations on the ground.

Perhaps some of you can guess the general direction that this is heading?

He then decided, as William later told me, to "do what the Romans used to do". This translated, it appears, into THROWING the garden fork like a javelin across the garden and into the dirt spoil pile.

If you are squeamish, you MAY not want to read on....



A straight, accurate aim is not currently one of Joshua's strong points.

Roarke was in the kitchen, and I was just finishing feeding Jonathan, when I heard Samuel burst into the kitchen and say "I think there's been an accident".

Er, you THINK?!

"I think Joshua has just put the fork in William's foot"!

Exit frantic father stage left for a quick sprint down the bottom of the garden.

I yelled for Mum and gave her Jonathan just as Roarke came back into the house carrying a SCREAMING William, who he then laid on the table (being a Mum, I couldn't help but register the fact - despite my fears for what had happened - that this meant there were now muddy footprints all over the table cloth!)

All we could see, under the blood was a puncture wound at the top of his right foot, and one at the bottom.

I threw Jonathan into his car seat, we carried William out to the car, and Roarke and I rushed him off to the hospital.

Aside from the way I was repeatedly questionned about whether or not William (and my other children) were in school, which is a subject I shall return hotly too another time, it wasn't that bad an experience of A&E; apart from the fact that the Triage nurse said that she thought it was two "superficial" wounds from two prongs hitting the foot sidewards (!!).

Fortunately, when we looked unconvinced, she suggested we get a second opinion and as the doctor was passing through the room at that point, she asked her to look at it. Doctor took one look and said that the prong HAD gone clean through his foot.

Hurrah for second opinions...

This also reinforces our feeling about William being an aspie as they just don't seem to register, or handle pain, the same as others. If that had been Joshua (as he admits!) he would have been claiming he would never walk again, and still screaming!

At that point I took Jonathan back home to feed him again and put him to bed, then returned around 10pm to collect William and Roarke. Will had had an x-ray which reassuringly showed that the prong had missed any bones. They gave him some antibiotics, and wrapped his foot up (the triage had been going to just put a plaster on it...)

All in all, it was a chaotic end to the day. Poor old Joshua felt so bad, and got so upset, that Mum said he had a major asthmatic attack, and she thought at one point she'd have to call an ambulance for HIM!

We said to Josh that how he felt was more than enough "punishment" or consequence, and that we weren't going to shout or tell him off. He knows it was dumb, and he knows he would never have played such a dangerous game if he hadn't have been in a temper. So he also now knows how dangerous his temper is.

A harsh lesson - and a painful one at William's expense - but not uncommon. I can recall my brother, when I was around 6 or so, poking an unlit bonfire (from the day before) with a poker, and then swinging it round in anger at me (I'm pretty sure I was annoying him!) and hitting me in the face with it. The scar from that hot poker end lasted into my early twenties. But it was a valuable lesson, especially about how long a bonfire can stay hot even after its "gone out"!

Today we have all been driven MAD by William - who just will NOT rest in any way, and is still bouncing, running, jumping, sitting on his foot and generally making US all feel ill with the thought of him doing that to his holey foot, whereas it doesn't seem to bother him at all!

Every now and again he complains it aches - to which we all chorus "we're not surprised!"

Poor lamb. He actually asked Joshua a short time ago why he had to sit down and when Josh said it was because of his bad foot, William said "how did I hurt it again? I can't remember".

The highs and lows of life with a little aspie!