Alice was sent home from daycare today. She slammed her head into another child’s face and was acting somewhat dozy. I think they were worried about Alice having a concussion but the other kid didn’t even get a bloody nose so I didn’t think it could be particularly serious. Mom gave Alice some Tylenol and left her with me to keep an eye on. My first clue that she wasn’t seriously injured was when she asked me to pick her up by the ankles and swing her around like the pendulum in a clock1. When I pointed this out Alice was suddenly stricken with a headache once again. By the evening she wasn’t even bothering to act ill and had only a barely visible bruise on her forehead.
I wasn’t too surprised — head injuries are a family tradition.
1 Yet another thing I did to bug Alice when she was being difficult that it turned out to be a favorite thing to do.