Care Free Indeed

I'd like to think that I'm a fairly prepared person. We have Kleenex, bottles of water, snacks, a first-aid kit and even a brand-new portable potty in the minivan (purchased after last weekend's near-miss bathroom emergency).

Yesterday at the park, though, Jilly waited until we had wandered far, far away from the parking lot to skin her knee. As she screamed, I looked at the damage: a little blood, no dirt---a minor boo-boo by all accounts. However, to Jilly, ANY boo-boo requires a bandage or she cannot stop crying. She believes the bandage has magical 'no-more-hurting' powers.

I considered taking all three kids back to the car to get to the first-aid kit, but it was so far away, and this was such a little scrape. I tried to talk sense into her, but have you ever tried to talk sense into a four-year-old?

So, I then rummaged through the contents of my pocketbook which held nothing but my wallet, some makeup, cell phone and checkbook (along with random mom items such as a few crayons, a stain stick and a single diaper). Nothing bandage like at all.

Then, I unzipped the little inside pouch and found a few tampons and a couple of little pink pouches, each holding a pantiliner. I hesitated, and Jilly screamed louder. I then grabbed a pantiliner, opened it up and shoved it down the front of Jilly's pink leggings until it was over her bloody knee, sticky side against the inside of her pants.

When she stood up, I could see the outline of the pantiliner against her knee, but, voila!, it seemed to do the trick.

She then turned to me and said she needed a Kleenex for her tear- and snot-streaked face. I thought about giving her a tampon (hey, it's cotton!), but instead, just let her wipe her face on my shirt. Another crisis averted.