bee careful

Dulcie loves bees.  There seem to be lots of bees around this year (that's got to be good, right?) and Dulcie has taken to stroking them whenever she gets the chance.  I decided it was better to let her stroke them and run the risk of a sting than it was to make her scared of them (and myself run ragged) by holding her back/chasing her away from them.  Well, today that parenting decision came back to bite me as Dulcie got her first bee sting.  I think this bee was actually the blighter that did it.

Here we are returning to the scene of the crime about an hour later, complete with red, swollen finger.  Bless her.  She was actually very brave about the whole thing.  She ran up to me holding out her finger and saying, "Bee!" with a look of shocked heartbreak on her face and then cried for around a minute and accepted a comforting cuddle.  It happened on the way to the play park and once we got there she was fine, running around and seeming like her usual self (with me wondering what the first signs of anaphylactic shock might be).  It didn't seem to put her off bees either, as she was back to stroking them almost straight away.  She has spoken about it a lot today, though, so I guess it made some impact.

Here is a little video of her telling the story, bless her cotton socks.

It's been a week of grave danger for Dulcie and guilt over poor parenting for me, as Dulcie had a very dramatic fall down an absolutely enormous hill on Friday.  She escaped unscathed (despite somersaulting and landing on her head more than once) and only cried for about ten seconds.  I was able to see the funny side pretty much straight away, but the following day the horror struck me and I kept having flashbacks and wanting to keep her close.  None of this has been helped by the book I am currently reading - the trauma-filled Poisonwood Bible, which I am no longer recommending to anyone!  It's really good, but I have been having nightmares ever since THAT incident.  If you've read it, I'm sure you'll know the incident I mean.  Having a child makes life's dangers that bit more real and frightening.  Will I really never stop worrying again?  This is exhausting.

Anyway, in the Congo scheme of things, a bee sting is really nothing, but still, what a brave little soldier :)