Guess What My Sister Does For a Living?

So my sister, Karen, is here visiting from Cincinnati. She's here for a work conference which will occur during part of the week, presenting some professional posters. What does she do? Well, it's interesting that you ask. (Not really. The title of this entry was supposed to make you wonder. It worked, didn't it?) She has her masters in Child Psychology, and works with children who have suffered a traumatic brain injury. Karen helps test the kids at different points in their lives as a part of a ginormous research study; she helps their moms and dads with learning parenting skills; she works in the schools to help these kids succeed. Because of Karen, there are parents who, for the first time, enjoy playing with their children. So yeah, she's pretty much awesome.

On Saturday, we said, "Karen, what is the largest cause of brain injuries in children?"

"Do you really want to know?" Karen asked with a tone of, you don't really want to know.

"Yep!"

"Believe it or not, people drop their kids. Not on purpose, they just, well, accidentally drop them."

Silence.

"But then again, there are kids who just fall when they're walking, and that's all it takes."

Well, all that is very reassuring.

An hour later, Oliver was sitting on Auntie Karen's lap, as we all zoned out on couches in front of HGTV. All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Oliver tumble head-first to the floor.

(Insert toddler scream here).

"What happened?" I asked, having missed the dramatic event leading to Oliver's plummet.

"Didn't you see?!" Michael said.

I shook my head, confused. But as it turns out, there really was nothing to see. Karen had a bewildered look on her face.

"I....I dropped your kid! I just....dropped him!" She looked half-confused, half-embarrassed, and all around astounded.

Oliver was fine. No brain injury. Not a scratch, bump or bruise. It was like the slowest tumble in the world. To her credit, Karen didn't even drop him really. He sat on her lap, confident as can be, and for some odd reason just decided to get back down on the ground- face first.

You'd think with credentials in the room of RN and Masters of Child Psych, he'd be in good hands. And he is...when we actually hold onto the kid.