The Folly Of Little Sprout

I love both my Sprouts, but some days I wonder if there is something terribly wrong with them.

Today, I question the general intelligence and sanity of Little Sprout. It has been a wild few days with her, and I should have known she was working up to one of her spectacular attempts to get attention.

I really should have known.

I should have been more aware of the danger when she sat so quietly at the table, cutting a candy wrapper into tiny pieces. I should have, but didn't.

Instead, I went about my daily chores glad she had finally found something that would entertain her quietly for a bit. I felt a moment's irritation that she was making a pile of such tiny pieces, knowing that I would have to sweep them up off the floor before we ate tonight, but on the whole I was just relieved to have two moments of quiet.

I was stripping the bed when the first scream echoed through the house. It didn't even register at first. The Sprouts have been at each others' throats for days, and I guess I thought it was just a renewal of one of their recent fights. The screams continued, though, and as the source came closer I realized that this was no ordinary angry scream.

I ran out of the bedroom and down the stairs, nearly tripping over Little Sprout headed in the opposite direction. Her hands were up over her mouth, blood was dripping between her fingers, and tears were streaming freely down her face and dripping off her chin and elbows.

"What is it?! What happened?!" I cried, crouching down and desperately trying to figure out how my little one had been so horribly injured.

"I cut my tongue wif da scissors!" she screamed. "Oh, Mom! Oh, Mom, am I gonna die?!"

Yes, folks, my Little Sprout (in her infinite wisdom) decided it would be a good idea to cut her TONGUE with SCISSORS. Luckily, application of ice cubes and lots of hugs stopped both the bleeding and the tears. I still haven't gotten a straight answer on why she thought it would be a good idea to stick scissors in her mouth. I suppose I don't really care. It's enough to know she isn't going to lose any bits of her tongue, and find a better place to hide the scissors...... again.