Grace

When I debated between wearing dress pants or jeans to church I should've decided on jeans because it would've made the service less traumatic for me and P. Let me start at the beginning........
When we got to church this morning I asked P if he wanted to go to preschool church or big church. He said he wanted to go to big church with me. But, once we got in there he was being very disruptive, especially when Pastor was talking about the relapse he was having with his neurological disorder. So I decided I'd take P to the preschool service for the first time ever. He was crying when I dropped him off but I assured the teacher that this was normal. As I was walking back to the adult service I saw 3 firemen messing with an alarm panel in the kitchen area. I heard them discussing it so I wasn't worried when the alarm went off as soon as I sat back down in the pew. Pastor Joe didn't know it was an alarm though so he called for an evacuation from the pulpit. I figured P would be panicked so, knowing it was a false alarm, I set off to find him. Since he was having such a hard time in the preschool class the teacher had taken him to the nursery since he knew Ms. Julie (the pastor's wife). I picked him up and tried to comfort him to no avail. I knew the firetruck was out front and figured that'd help cheer him up.
When I walked outside I caught my right heel in the left cuff of my pant leg. I fell, dropping P in the process. He went down, head first, slamming the back of his head on the cement walk. The look on his face was horrifying and all I could think was, "Oh no. I cracked my baby's head open and the firetruck just left when I needed them." Praise the Lord his head DIDN'T crack but it scared both of us really bad. I was shaking as I picked him up and examined him. Then I carried him to the kitchen to get a bag of ice. Thankfully a very nice lady assisted me with that and a sweet boy gave P a candy cane in hopes of calming him down.
It wasn't until I was back in the foyer and P was somewhat calmed down that I noticed I had ripped my pants and my right leg was sore. I pulled up my pant leg to discover 2 pretty good scrapes on my leg. Then I looked down and realized that not only had I ruined my new pair of dress pants but I had ruined my heels as well. (For the record I would've been okay ruining my entire wardrobe if it meant that P walked away unscathed!)
P recovered from the incident faster than me. After about 20 minutes of icing his head, eating his candy cane and cuddling with me he was off and running again. An older gentleman, who was with his granddaughter in the foyer, befriended him and made P a paper airplane. P had a blast throwing it while I calmed my nerves. It wasn't until the service was over and I was talking to my mom that the magnitude of what COULD'VE happened hit me. I started crying as I retold the events to my mom. Then I called the pediatric after hours advice nurse to ask about P having a concussion. She was very nice and told me things to look for for the next 24-48 hours. He seems no worse for the wear but I'm keeping my eye on him none the less.
In fact, I don't know who is more worried about who. My SWEET boy seems just as worried about me. When we got home he brought me his Scooby Doo bandaids for my scrapes. Then, when it was naptime, he told me I could sleep with elephant, baby elephant and doggy... his prized stuffed animals...so "Mommy feel better".
It was a morning I could've done without, one we'll both remember for awhile. P wants to tell everyone about how he fell telling the firetruck bye-bye and how he got ice for his head and a candy cane. I'll probably forget certain parts about what happened as time goes on but one thing I doubt I'll forget is the look of horror when P's head hit the ground. I am so very thankful that he walked away without any blood.
We MAY go back to church for a concert tonight but one thing's for certain....I will definitely be wearing jeans and flats. Oh, why did God have to bless me with beauty instead of grace?? (KIDDING!! But, I do wish I was more graceful!)