The saga of spilled spaghetti

Well dining al fresco gave a bit of excitement tonight and not too much in the way of dining. We usually eat on our deck on nice nights. We all love it and it is fun to look at the flowers and our overgrown back yard, listen for birds and chat with passing neighbors. (although the deck is in the back of our house, one neighbors driveway is so close to us that we could practically reach out and touch em!"

Anyway, Rob was helping bring out the food as he usually does. However he had forgotten Lissa's tray and since I was strapping her in, I asked him to grab the tray for me. K didn't know about the tray and also suggested on his way out the door that he get one of the two remaining plates of pasta.

One of Rob's issues is a reluctance to do a lot of verbal speaking. I think his early years taught him that speaking up meant negative consequences and it is going to take more years than I have put in so far (and sometimes I fear more years than we may HAVE) to teach him that speaking up is GOOD. Applauded. Desired. He also freezes when frightened. It is his PTSD response.

So I strapped Lissa in to her high chair and turned away to do some other pre-dining prep. LIssa was howling as she wanted to ride her rocking horse and didn't like the idea of waiting till after supper. So I didn't think anything amiss till suddenly I noticed the shrieks were not her usual "angry diva princess" screams. I turned and saw my daughter covered in pasta all over one side of her body. The sauce had just come from the stove to the plate. We are talking serious heat. Rob was just standing there staring, holding the tray and the empty pasta plate. I grabbed a water glass and dumped it on Lissa and took off her sundress. Thankfully she didn't have lots of layers of clothes.

I got one strap off and the other was confounding me. I grabbed the second glass of water and dumped that as well. By now, Kirsty was out on the deck hearing the commotion. She is a wonderful person and a caring mom. But she doesn't do well in medical emergencies. She stands there yelling. That is her fear response, just like Rob's is standing still.

I finally got the poor child out of her high chair and ran to our side yard and plopped her in the kiddie pool that thankfully had just been put to use earlier today. Started checking her all over and looking for signs of reddening (hard to find on dark skin which is always a worry to me) and blistering.

By now one set of neighbors had come over to see what was wrong. I explained while checking Lissa. They are new folk and i am so grateful that they hopped the fence to see. Bodes well for the relationship between us!

I am even more grateful that Lissa seems fine. There is no blistering, only very slight reddening in one area and that. is. it. I have reassured Rob, we have all spent an hour playing in the sand box and the kiddie pool and with water soakers. She is okay.