When we came back from camping in the mountains earlier this week, we returned with a deeper connection to nature and an appreciation of the world around us. In Henry’s case, I think he also came back with something of an addiction to Band-Aids.
Having grown up on a farm, I have lots of memories of summers spent running around outside, complete with lots of stumbles and scrapes. As I write this, I can literally smell the Bactine that my mom would douse our various wounds with before applying Band-Aids. It was all part of the fun, and those Band-Aids were badges of honor, showing that we survived another day of play.
I have to say, as a parent in today’s safety-focused culture, it is definitely surreal to think back to those childhood days running around wide open spaces and cavernous buildings filled with large, sharp, often rusty metal farm equipment. There was lots of jumping off things, climbing unsteady stacks of hay bales, and generally cheating death on an hourly basis.
Given that I am so clumsy that these days I often manage to cut myself on un-sharp objects like cabinet doors, it is truly a wonder that I survived to adulthood.
But I digress. Cuts and scrapes are as much a part of childhood summertimes as popsicles, sprinklers and pools. Our kids seemed to have leaned into that big time in the past week. While hiking around Bear Lake on Monday, Henry was climbing around some rocks and had a tumble into the lake where he scuffed his ankle. He got a nifty Incredibles II Band-Aid for that one, and I think he liked that so much, he wanted to notch up some more.
So since we’ve been home, it seems like every few hours I’m hearing a crash and “OW!” This is followed by Henry excitedly asking for another Band-Aid. We have gone through most of our once full jar of cartoon themed Band-Aids.
As of the writing of this, I believe he has one on his toe, and three on his legs.
He capped off the day with some kind of stumble outside and came in with a scratch on his nose, so now he looks like a rough and tumble boxer.
It’s a tough look to pull off, but Henry can do it. He actually seemed pretty excited about this one and, after all, fashion is all about attitude.
