Crap Parenting: Scabby Knees . . . first in a series, I'm sure . .

Took the children grocery shopping. Rather, Wifey was sleeping, about ready to go to work as Supernurse, so I took the kids to the store.

Bargained some treats, refused others, etc. Kids were good.

Leave the store, I've got a cart full of food. The space I parked faces the sidewalk. It's around the side of the store but it's nice because the kids just get out of the car and walk to the sidewalk, relatively safely, and I don't have to worry about some knuckle head doing the parking lot rodeo coming from some unknown direction.

But I need to get the cart off the sidewalk to the trunk, and there's only one car between the curb I need to roll the cart off, and my car. So I send the kids between the cars to get in.

Mind you, they are only out of sight for 3 seconds as I walk around a car. But as I push the cart off the curb, I hear a blood curdling scream . . .

The girl has somehow tripped over the curb between the cars, and skinned a knee. Really not life threatening . . . but she's crying so I pick her up.

Meanwhile and for the life of me I don't know why this happens . . . the boy gets really really upset when girl cries. So he starts crying. He's in the car crying, I'm outside the car holding the crying girl and I look up and there's this boy on the sidewalk and he waves to me . . . hello?

I look again and it's the nextdoor neighbor boy . . . I look and my neighbor is in the spot opposite on the other side . . . so I'm nodding a kind of hello, both kids are screaming . . .

Nice.

Best part? This morning getting the kids ready for school and trying to figure out how to keep the girls' knee covered, but not interfere with the scrape . . .

Girl: "Can I wear shorts?"
Me: "Sure, if we can find some long enough . . . but why?"
Girls: "So I can show my friends my knee."
Me: "I love you. I am so proud of you. Yes, lets show off your scabby knee."