It's All Fun and Games until Someone Gets Head-Butted

You've read recently about the trouble both Kylee's and Stephanie's girls have gotten into lately. Well I'm here to tell you that, sometimes, kids don't outgrow their shenanigans.

My boys, like most boys, tend to wrestle occasionally. Although the particular wrestling bout that I'm going to tell you about didn't start out as wrestling.

Late Friday night we all started getting ready for bed. I walked through the living room to find Luke laying on the floor with Nick helping Luke crack his back by stepping on it. Other than telling Nick not to put all his weight in one spot ... say, his brother's spine ... I didn't see much unusual in their actions. A short time later I heard them switch positions so Nick's back could get cracked. As I passed back through the living room, my husband joined them and the three were laughing and joking and wrestling around. Again, nothing unusual here.

I went into my bedroom, but turned around almost immediately because I'd forgotten to get a bottle water. In the thirty seconds that it took to come back out into the living room, the entire scene had changed. All three guys were on their feet. No one seemed particularly tense or angry, however, Nick did have his hands on Luke's shoulders. Apparently the wrestling had gotten out of hand or Luke was fighting dirty because, using the same tone that he would have used in telling a waiter that his steak was undercooked, Nick explained to Luke, "If you ever do that again, then I'll do this."

And he head-butted his brother.

The gesture didn't phase me much because, have you met my boys? Also, it didn't seem like Nick used a lot of force. It almost looked like he was just making the gesture with his head to show what he would do if necessary in the future.

And then Luke's hands went to his nose.

And my husband stopped laughing.

There were no tears and the blood wasn't really gushing that much, so I headed on to bed. I may seem heartless, but have you met my boys? My husband came to bed a short time later and when I asked about Luke's nose he said, "He'll live."

A short time later there was a knock on the door. Luke came in and told us he was pretty sure his nose was broken. It was already swelling and painful so he and his dad spent a few minutes feeling along the sides of the nose and discussing what direction to pull in order to "set" it. This was nothing I wanted to see so I suggested ibuprofen, an ice pack and using his health insurance and then I went to sleep. I know I seem heartless, but have you met my boys?

Luke did not have black eyes the next morning, but he did have a very swollen nose and a lot of pain. I advised the continuous use of ibuprofen and icing it every hour or two.

So what have we learned? Apparently a broken bone is no reason to go the emergency room. The little brother is no longer the guy you want to pick on. The family gossip line is alive and well as it took less than thirty minutes for one of our other children to text us with questions, asking about the details. And in our family it's okay to mock someone that's in pain.

I give it a week before someone's wrestling again. After all, have you met my boys?