It's a good thing he is cute...

It is a good thing Nathaniel is cute. Some days it's the only thing standing between a comfortable life in the Baker house and being shipped off to Timbuktu. I will make my case.

On Thanksgiving morning while preparing to load the van, the kids were in various states of dress and preparedness. Nathaniel was outside and dressed to go while Timothy was inside but wanting to be outside. He was looking through glass storm door at Nathaniel and trying it push it open. Nathaniel tried to close it. I told Nathaniel to leave it alone. I turned my back for a minute and then heard a cry of pain from Timothy. I whipped around just in time to see Nathaniel pushing hard with both hands to shut the door while Tim's fingers were under it. No need to explain my reaction and ensuing punishment and crying. You can figure that out on your own. So, Timothy's fingernail proceeds to turn black and blue over the next two weeks and then it starts to die. It takes another week or so to start falling off. I know this is a gross story and I assure this it the worse part and I do not have pictures of the finger. So after several days of the fingernail hanging on only by just a little bit I catch Nathaniel looking at it with a very fascinated gaze while trying to hold Tim down. I tell Nathaniel if he touches the fingernail I may pull a Bill Cosby ("I brought you into this world and I can take you out of it and make another just like you"). Ok, small exaggeration but the Bill Cosby portion was communicated in a very firm "DO NOT TOUCH THAT!" I turn my back expecting to be obeyed and once again to hear a cry of pain. Unbelieving and feeling a sence of de'ja vu I whip around to see Tim in pain and Nathaniel gazing intently at a small fingernail held in his fingers. I will leave the next few minutes to your imagination but know that Nathaniel is still alive at this point. I treated poor Tim's finger (now nailless) with alcohol and wrap it in a band-aid. The band-aid didn't last too long of course. Two days later the finger is infected and showing signs of possibly going septic. After a day of debate about going to the doctor we finally get the puss squeezed out, with much pain and discomfort on Tim's part. I tried to tell him the pain was Nathaniel's fault even though I was the one squeezing his finger at that time. The infection looked much better the next day and has been improving all week. So, today when Tim's fingernail is starting to grow back and the infection is almost gone Nathaniel shuts the door on Tim's fingers....

again.

The blue eyes and mischievous grin are sometimes the only thing that keep that boy alive...