My Mom Has A Black Eye

She said she had never seen stars before, but when he hit her she saw them.  I asked if little birds were circling her head too, and she said no.  The bruising started almost immediately and I knew it was going to be bad.  It's been over a week now and it's still black and yellow.

So, who hit her so hard and caused this blunt force trauma?  I know that some people who see her think it was my Dad.  And for those people, I have to tell you, use your brains for a minute.  He's still breathing,  therefore it could not have been him that hit her.  There's no way I'd put up with that kind of crap.

It was Walter.  He's 3.

He does this thing when he's tired.  It's like he's afraid to be still because he thinks he might fall asleep.  So he acts like.. well we call it a "jackleberry".  I came up with jackleberry to avoid cursing in front of him, so that's what we call it.  So he was being a jackleberry, or jackleberty, as he says it, and the back of his head connected with her face.  Hard.

After it happened I quickly scooped him up and took him away from her.  Far away.  I know my Mom would never hit Walter, but something about being hit that hard just really makes you want to hit back.  Believe me, I know.  I've been on the receiving end of the blunt force trauma from the back of his head too, though never quite as bad as this.

So, I'm hoping her bruising will heal up and the rumors around town will quiet down.  I'm tired of people giving my Dad dirty looks and wondering why, if he did that to my Mom, someone hasn't killed him yet.  Or why he doesn't at least have similar bruising…or why he still has hair.

I once knew someone who had a black eye for about a year.  I was actually there when he got it too, although I don't remember what happened vey well.  It was the first date with a guy who I wound up dating for about 6 years.  He picked me up at my house.  I was upset because I had backed my Dad's Corvette into another car earlier that day and it was the second such accident I had caused in the car. 

So, my Dad was furious, I was 17 and upset and Jason picked me up.  As we left my neighborhood he handed me a single long stemmed rose and took his eyes off the road for long enough for him to miss a very important turn.  We crashed in a big way and I was knocked out.  His face hit the steering wheel and he kept that black eye for about a year.  I hope my Mom heals up faster.

Walter's head can't be as hard as a steering wheel… can it?  I hope he didn't cause as much damage as a motor vehicle accident.

It's a little bit sad now though, because we're all scared of him when he goes into jackleberry mode now.  It used to be funny, now it's terrifying.

Get well soon Mom!