The Sting

We all went to Corpus Christi about two weeks ago. There were lots of fun moments. The kids had never seen the ocean, and they had certainly never tasted it or felt its magnificent hugeness - so we went.
What a fun trip, and not a moment too soon!
One of the tragically funny moments on this trip was when Avery got stung by a jellyfish.
Preceding this awful event were no fewer than 300 conversations with the kids about jellyfish. Avery had fretted so about the existence of jellyfish.
It was all I could do to convince her to get in the water. Then as the 4 of us huddled close to the shore, of course it was Avery who got it...

She shot out of the water and said something BIT me!!! And I looked at her, and like the caring, concerned mom I am said, "I don't see anything. You'll be fine."
She griped for a bit and then no amount of coaxing could get her back in the water.

A couple of hours later, she got in the bathtub of our hotel room and there it was a 3-4 inch long red, angry stripe. I examined it and knew what it was. In all my horror, realizing that "Mom-of-the-Year" was definitely in the bag, I told her I was sorry and asked if it still hurt. She said it wasn't too bad, but then looked at me sort of like a beggar and asked, "You're not gonna pee on me, are you?"

See? When I told you that we had no fewer than 300 conversations about the jellyfish, the remedy for a sting was discussed multiple times. Jaron was so impressed at the idea that you could PEE on something and make it better... Avery was not so much impressed as she was disgusted.

I assured her that no one was going to pee on her. Sweet relief! Poor baby. So in the end, my forgiving sweet little darling has moved past my lack of concern for her in the trauma of a jellyfish sting.
She was fine and all was well.

Another Jellyfish Comment by Jaron: "Avery, if it wasn't for jellyfish, we wouldn't have any jelly. And I know how much you love jelly..."