Chaos to Calmness in crisis mode

 

  This past weekend was my birthday and my husband decided to surprise me by taking me out to dinner.  He made arrangements with my mother and it was all set for Saturday eve. We had not been out together by ourselves for so long and I was really looking forward to it. On Friday, my daughter started not feeling well and it carried into Saturday.  I was debating on whether or not to postpone our dinner.  My husband convinced me she would be alright.  I asked her and she seemed fine with it.  I got dressed up and was all excited to go on date night. We drove over to my mothers house and my husband said to wait in the car and he would drop them off.  I said "no, I will come in and say hello". Upon arriving my brothers dog (Australian Shepherd) was outside the door.  We opened the door and he ran in. I asked my mother if it was OK for him to come in and she replied "yes" (my brother lives next to my mom and my nephew is there all the time with his dog).  Anyway, as we were talking, my son (age 10) sat on the couch next to the dog.  It was all but  quick flash that I looked over and saw the dog viciously attacking my son in the face.  My son started screaming as I looked on in pure terror.  That dog might as well been biting me.  My husband grabbed my son away as my mom called the dog.  With my husbands arm around my son protecting him, the dog came after him again (probably because he was screaming in fear and pain). My husband gave him a swift kick as my mom shoo'd him out the door.  My poor son crying hysterical as I grab him into the kitchen and wet a paper towel to place over his face for the bleeding.  My mom quickly grabs an ice pack and a clean washcloth so I can clean him up.  My son is crying "I want to go home, I just want to go home!" I take the clean washcloth with some warm water and a bit of soap and gently start to clean up the wound.  My mother is walking around with her hands above her head saying "I can't take this!" My husbands temper is starting to flare as I look into his masculine eyes, he just wants to go outside and rip the dogs head off.  I remain calm and say to everyone " it is going to be OK". I hush my son and he begins to calm down. I take away the compress and I can see that it isn't as bad as I thought.  I calmly ask my mom to take a look at it to see if he needs stitches. She replied "he might need one or two". I looked at my husband and said "let's go". I asked my mother if my daughter can stay(of course with the dog outside) and she agreed and I grabbed my son with the ice compress and took him to emergency care.
  As scared as he was he was such a courageous warrior while we were there and did not cry and was even cracking jokes.  The nurse practitioner was explaining to him what the doctor was going to do.  He told my son to lay back relax and get into the zone. My son replied "auto zone" (from the commercial).  We all started to laugh and his bright chuckle shone through. He ended up getting mostly surface scratches and 2 stitches (1 stitch in 2 places). I am forever in gratitude that it wasn't worse.
  My husband whispers in my ear that he wants that dog put down.  Even though my heart bleeds for my son, (no mother can bear to see their child in pain or hurt), a part of me feels compassion.  I start thinking about my nephew, who 18 months earlier, lost his mom to cancer.  She was the one who got him that dog and it's all he has left.  He has no siblings, just his dog.  I start to think about my brother, who had to tell his son that his mother wasn't coming back. The thought of him taking his dog now, saddened me. Why am I feeling such love and compassion for my brother and son when my own flesh and blood is the one who is suffering?  Maybe it's because they have suffered too, for much longer.  I think that my son will heal quickly and the trauma in relations to dogs might come up down the road however, that is nothing in compared to never seeing your mother again.  My brother called me to see how my son was doing.  I was kind to him because I was feeling compassion. I calmly stated that my son was OK and that I was going to leave it up to him what to do.  I told my mother that I will call before coming over from now on and she agreed.
  In the end, I kept asking myself, what was the lesson I needed to learn from this? There is a lesson here and this is what I came up with. Well, for starters I was an excellent role model to my children.  I was calm during the whole thing (surprisingly), and didn't let my emotions get the best of me. From this, they can learn what to do in a crisis mode instead of acting out of anger with screaming and yelling. I have taught them about safety, especially when it comes to animals. My son thinks all animals are kind and lovable However, (just like people) they can turn on you.  I taught them about kindness and most of all compassion.  This is the biggest lesson I can teach them as their guide. To teach a child to have compassion towards the earth, animals and each other is gift. A gift that will stay with them a lot longer and have greater impact than a scar from a bite will ever have.