Signing off on Miss Madeleine's Medical Review

This afternoon, the children and Amy made an urgent trip to Urgent Care - the relatively low-cost alternative to the emergency room for people whose heads aren't completely falling off. It seems that young Daniel was closing the car door while Madeleine spontaneously inserted her hand into the trajectory, resulting in all kinds of trauma and dread. However, thank God, it turns out that no bones were broken, and she didn't even need a bandage...

I was at work during the crisis, but Ian was telling me about it after the fact: "I insisted on seeing the X-ray." Of course, I had to know why he needed to see the X-ray, and he listed four or five reasons, including:

1. He wanted to make sure that Madeleine was okay.

2. He wanted to see the X-ray because X-rays are pretty cool.

3. He wanted to put Madeleine at ease.

4. It just seemed like the right thing to do.

I'm not just impressed at his curiosity and initiative, as a three-foot-something seven-year-old in a high-intensity adult medical environment; I'm also impressed at Ian's honesty with himself, and unapologetic candor with me, in recognizing and listing self-centered, unselfish and mixed motivations behind his extremely important radiological review.

(June 24, 2011)