Australian Citizenship Party and the Incident With the Door

I'm laying very low and quiet with my kid, a lot of coffee, and Playschool videos today so as not to disturb any forces in the universe that might make this anything other than a quiet, uneventful day. 

After yoga on Friday, we had quite the unexpected drama. Hushpuppy and I had just finished with our weekly mums & bubs class and were in the lobby packing up, chatting to the other mothers. Hushpuppy was wreaking her usual havoc, attempting to infiltrate the trash can (rubbish bin, if you want to be Aussie about it), throwing potting soil on the ground, and so forth. The studio owner/instructor, who has know Hushpuppy her whole life, made a comment about how curious she is (i.e. - your kid is into everything!). True to form, Hushpuppy decided that she wanted to check out the smoke detector next to the door. I was standing right next to her telling her no, but am still unsure how the next split second transpired. Another mother walked out the door and, somehow, Huspuppy got her hand into the open space between the door and the frame. Her two bottom fingers became completely lodged in the door, and the door could not be moved in either direction to free them. None of us could believe what we were seeing, and poor Hushpuppy was clearly in a fair amount of pain and panic. One of the mums grabbed some baby massage oil to try to loosen her fingers, but it was clear that they were completely stuck. All I could do was sit and hold her, and talk to her, and kiss her head. For a moment, panic overtook me, and I started shaking and crying, but then it went through my mind that I'm the mother here - I did not have the luxury of freaking out. Hushpuppy needed me to stay calm and level-headed for her. The studio owner was quick to action, calling 000 (our 911), and the other mothers tried to be helpful, though there was little to be done. 

Seven hours passed and the ambulance arrived ... OK, it was actually maybe 10 minutes, amazing time on their part, but for me it felt like seven hours. The paramedics tried to free her fingers with whatever tools they could find in the studio, but they couldn't get her loose. They told me we'd wait for the fire truck, which was on its way. Three more hours a couple of minutes passed, and the fire fighters arrived. They sledge hammered a couple of large wedges into the door, freeing my poor little monkey, at last. 

I was so relieved to have her out, but still very worried about the fate of her fingers, as they'd been so stuck for a long time. I was sure they'd be broken, or worse, and I'd be lying if I didn't say that the thought she might lose those fingers crossed my mind. Seeing them didn't help - they looked flat  as pancakes - no, actually, much flatter than any pancake I've seen, and had large indentations from the door frame. The paramedics were so nice and said that there was a good chance her fingers would be absolutely fine, as their bones are so small at this age, but I didn't know if they were just saying that to calm me. I got a hug from the studio manager and got to have a quick cry.

We rode to the hospital in the ambulance, thankfully only a short distance away, and the paramedics took turns trying to entertain Hushpuppy as we waited to be brought to the ER. They were the sweetest guys. She slowly started to calm, as we got to the waiting room, and was really happy to see her dad walk in the door a few minutes later (as was I!). By the time we were seen by a doctor a few minutes later, her fingers already looked immensely better. She was given some Panadol, which helped with her pain. X-rays were taken, and they found no breaks. I was amazed and overwhelmed. By the time we left, Hushpuppy was playing happily in the pediatric ER's play area. I couldn't believe how lucky she was to come out so unscathed. We took her home, fed her dinner, gave her a dose of Nurofen, and she slept all night without waking, certainly exhausted from her ordeal. I had a couple of glasses of wine, and also slept all night, needing my own repair from the experience. 

The next morning, Hushpuppy seemed as if nothing had happened, and her fingers were a bit red and swollen, but not so much that you would even notice if it wasn't pointed out to you. It was a relief, especially because I needed her in good form. We were hosting a party that afternoon to celebrate Partner-in-Crime's recent birthday and newly acquired Aussie citizenship. I had a somewhat ambitious menu planned, and needed a cooperative toddler to make it all happen. She was surprisingly obliging, and I spent the day in full-on food prep mode. My menu for our Aussie themed party was:

• Appetizers (entrees, if you're Aussie): Meat pies and sausage rolls (from frozen - full disclosure!), Vegemite sandwiches (ewww), fresh fruit plate. We also had a box of Anzac biscuits out that we set out, but completely forgot to open.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Mains (entrees, if you're American): Kangaroo burgers (even the buns from scratch, thank you very much!), lamb roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, and prawn and mango salad.
  
  
• Dessert (universal): Pavlova. Fairy bread for the kids. 
  
  
  

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We had a few decorations and P-i-C turned out to be an ace with the green and yellow streamers - who knew?! I'd spent some time crafting the party playlist, and P-i-C had put together a beautiful slideshow with images from our travels around Australia, both of which were cut short by some meddling little hands "helping" with the SmartTV set up. But, hey, here's my playlist, in case you're ever hosting an Aussie themed party and need inspiration. It would have been good.

Look at that skill with streamers!

Aside from the tech glitches, I think the party went well. We got to enjoy a few hours with some of our dear friends, people who have made us feel like we have a home here for the past four years, and some of the new friends who have come into our lives since having Hushpuppy. It was also fortuitous for me to have such a busy day after Friday's drama so that I didn't have the time or brain space to spend a lot of time replaying the terrifying door incident in my head.  Certainly much better to be able to focus on something constructive and positive. 

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Very glad that we have so much to celebrate this weekend.