Band-Aid Tragedy

Parenting lesson No. 572: Never, ever try to remove a toddler's band-aid by launching a surprise attack while you deem said toddler as occupied and unaware. This tactic does not work and no exceptions should be made regardless of how that band-aid appears: dirty, crumpled up and hanging on by one small corner that hasn't yet lost its sticky. This is in no way a good idea and the results can be quite traumatic. Let me tell you how we discovered this truth.

Sunday evening Margie Grace scrapped her knee on our driveway. The incident created a noticeable but very superficial boo boo. She didn't cry but seemed a little worried by it so Neil and I put on a good show doctoring it. I put a little Neosporin on the "wound" and a Hello Kitty band-aid for good measure (which she really hated at first, go figure). She still had the band-aid on when Neil dropped her off at Mrs. Elaine's Monday morning. I noticed Monday afternoon that Hello Kitty had been replaced by Nemo and Margie Grace seemed to be oblivious and over the injury. Well, the band-aid should have been removed Monday evening but with all the birthday hubbub I forgot. So last night after Neil had gotten MG out of the bathtub, I was drying her off and getting her ready for bed. We were both talking and laughing with Margie Grace. Suddenly, I am in the midst of drying her hair with the towel when I hear the band-aid rip off. A horrified expression came over Margie Grace's face as her eyes got big and she started to scream and cry and point at her knee. "What happened?!?" I asked, very concerned that my docile toddler was suddenly reduced to a fit of hysterics. "I took off her band-aid while she wasn't looking," Neil said. "It needed to go." With no advanced warning to either me or MG, Neil decided to rip Nemo off for good. The results of his actions were tragic. Margie Grace began crying uncontrollable, I was still trying to assess the situation and Neil was feeling really bad and repeating "I thought she wouldn't notice." Well, folks, she noticed. And when Neil moved in for an apologetic hug, he was brutally rebuffed by Margie Grace. She pushed him away with a hard shove at which point I suggested that he just leave the room and give us a few minutes to collect ourselves. I tried to speak rationally to my child about the band-aid being dirty and needing to come off and the boo boo was healed but this did not help! Margie Grace kept repeating through her sobs, "Meemo gone, gone!" "Daddy Meemo off!" "Margie Grace boo boo! Kiss it!" I offered lots of kisses and hugs and tried to ease her through this tragedy. Slowly, she began to pull herself together and the tears dried up -- I was relieved. We continued with our bedtime routine and I even got a smile and a hug when I suggested we go and play with her new dishes that Mam-ma and Pa-pa gave her for her birthday. On the way into the den, however, we met Daddy. Now, Margie Grace was fine with this and I think she had already forgiven him. But as he went in for a conciliatory hug and began explaining that he was sorry but the band-aid had to come off, she lost it again. "Hey, here's a tip," I said. "Let's drop this and not mention Nemo or the band-aid again!" And that is how we painfully learned Parenting lesson No. 572. Next time there is a band-aid that needs to be removed, we are going to give advanced warning because, yes, she will notice!