The Bite

This has been a hard one to write.

Saturday night Emily and Madison were happily playing on the family room floor giggling and laughing with each other. Then I heard a blood curling scream and turn to see Emily drop Madison's arm.

I had never heard such a cry for help. Madison's scream reminded me of the scream I heard during a newscast when an audio clip played of a young boy who had a firecracker go off in his hand.

Sondra and I ran to both girls. Madison looked ok at first. I asked Emily what she had done. Madison doesn't cry like that for no reason. Before Emily could answer, Sondra turned Madison's hand over to see a fierce bite mark on her hand. The mark was deep but skin was not broken.

Madison cried for what felt like an eternity and her hand was sore the rest of the evening. The bite mark stayed on her hand for 2 and a half days!

For Emily's part it was hard to determine a motive. She may have simply been curious or she may have been acting out. Regardless, part of her punishment was that she had to say "sorry" to Madison. This was very hard for her. There were several failed attempts (we insisted that she look right at Madison when she said it). Emily was made to stay in her room until she made a sincere apology.

She may have lasted the entire night but thankfully it was poker night. That meant Tony and Alice would be bringing their girls to play. Missing playtime was an extra motivator for Emily.

A couple of hours later Sondra was rocking Madison to sleep when she heard Emily yelling in the next room "I didn't mean to do it!" Sondra then took Madison next door and Emily made a very sincere apology. She took Madison's cheeks in her hands, looked her right in the eye and said sorry. They have been back to giggling and playing ever since.