A Product No Home Should Be Without

Friday was the infamous "Daddy Daughter Dance". If you read our Christmas letter from last year, you'd know that this is a highlight in Mikayla's life, in which she's been counting down days for, for well over a month.

In preparation for her wonderful date with Daddy, we set to making her extra beautiful. The Easter dress and sweater were ironed, the hat and gloves we found at Target on clearance were set out, and the curling iron was armed and ready to turn Mikayla into Goldilocks. She sat so patiently watching Mary Kate and Ashley on video, and truly, her hair was gorgeous.

I left the room for only a moment and then heard a horrific scream come from the living room. I now feel assured that, as her mom, I have a very good gauge on what is a serious injury vs. "need attention" injury. This was very serious. Mikayla had tripped over the curling iron cord and it literally bounced down her arm. I think the pictures sum it up well.

I immediately went to our cabinet and pulled out the Water-jel stuff I had bought at Walmart several years ago. It's been used on numerous occassions for all of us, with amazing results, but never on an injury this large. I was confident we wouldn't be hitting the ER, but could tell that we'd hit 2nd degree with a few blisters beginning to emerge. As soon as I applied the product, she immediately started to relax. Throw in some Childrens' Advil and the portable "self-fan" that Daddy brought home from Boys' Round-Up - and she was virtually pain-free. Unbelievable. Of course, it wasn't until about 8:30 that we could remove the source of blowing air for her to be comfortable, but the fact that she slept through the night and has been good to go all day today is pretty amazing to me.

Needless to say, Mikayla and Daddy never made it to the "Daddy Daughter Dance". She got a lot of attention at home, though, and loved the boquet Daddy brought home for her. There's always next year - and perhaps we'll leave her hair straight!

(By the way, the Water-Jel I bought at Walmart is no longer available there - at least not that I've found. I checked out their website and there are a ton of testimonials similar to mine, primarily they distribute their products directly to health-care locations, especially fire-fighting. It is available to purchase at drugstore.com - about $7. Well worth the money to have on hand.....)