Band-Aid season

Most people call it summer when the weather gets warm. Not in this house.

I call it Band-Aid Season.

Why? Because this time of year is when I should buy stock in plastic adhesive bandages...I buy a box a week sometimes.

Anything that remotely looks reddish or bumpy must be promptly covered up by a likeness of Barbie or Scooby-Doo. It will hurt immensely and cause constant crying and/or screaming if it is not taken care of, even if it is 10 days old and the child just found it.

We are playing outside more, riding bikes and running around in the road like chickens with their heads cut off in flip-flops, which causes multiple knee and elbow scrapes. These cause hysterics, especially if there's blood. But when the band-aid is magically applied to the boo-boo, the screaming stops.

Tonight Ivy was crying, holding her knee. I asked her what was wrong.

"Mommy, my boo-boo hurts. I need a band-aid!"

I moved her hand and saw...nothing.

"Where?"

"Right here." She pointed to what might have been a bump.

"Ivy, there's nothing there."

"But it hurts! I need one!" she cried. I attempted to explain the purpose of the band-aid- to keep you from bleeding on your clothes and the couch. She wasn't buying it. "It'll make me feel better!" she protested.

"But there's no blood," I said. I called in reinforcements. "Right, Daddy?" He agreed, but she still didn't relent.

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow owwwwwww!"

So, Daddy got her involved in a game of tic-tac-toe, which saved one more poor Dora band-aid from being used needlessly. Until tomorrow.

Story likes to play with band-aids. There was the time she opened an entire box of Barbie band-aids and applied them to her legs. All of them. I'm not even sure how she did it; I can't get the little packages open half the time.

And then the time she took the remaining Diego band-aids and put them all over the toilet lid. My toilet is still sticky.

The only good thing about having a stock of cartoon character band-aids? When my husband gets hurt. It's a big pleasure to send him out on the golf course with Strawberry Shortcake on his finger. (Insert evil laugh).