Wednesday, April 2, 2014

B is for Band Aid

When I was a kid, we had tan band aids. Some were big, some were small, some were round, some were rectangles, some were squares, but they were all tan. 

They've come a long way since then.

Oh, the shapes are still basically the same, but tan? No kid wears tan band aids, not when there are Sponge Bob and Ninja Turtles, Barbie and Hello Kitty. (My husband has gone to work more than once with a Scooby Doo band aid covering where he cut himself shaving.)

At preschool, we usually keep a pretty good stock of fun band aids on hand, as boo boos, real and imaginary, are instantly made better with one. But last week, not long after arrival time, one of my pre-k girls knocked a scab off (gross, I know, but it could be worse; it's PRESCHOOL) and needed a band aid. 

As luck would have it, all my fun band aids were gone, and I was left with, yes, tan ones. I apologized to the little girl, telling her all I had right now was a plain one. She looked at me and said, "Well, you could draw a smiley face on it, you know." 

Brilliant!

I drew a face on the band aid with a Sharpie, put it on her boo boo, and she went on her merry way, showing the other kids her band aid with the face drawn on by Miss Dyanne.



Moments later, another of my girls came up to me, holding up her hand and showing me a little cut between her thumb and finger. I drew another smiley face on another tan band aid and put it on her hand without questioning what happened, assuming it was an old injury and that she just wanted to be a member of the smiley face band aid club.

Fast forward to later that evening. My assistant teacher ran into the girl and her mother at dance class, and the mom, who had noticed the smiley face band aid on her daughter, asked my assistant (out of curiosity only - she was in no way upset or accusatory) how her daughter had cut her finger at school, since the girl was very vague about how it had happened, but the band aid was pretty bloody by the time the mom saw it that evening. My assistant told her she hadn't done it at school, because we hadn't even used scissors and don't have anything else that could have cut her.

When the little girl came out of dance class, my assistant called her over and innocently asked her how she had cut her finger. Not knowing her mother was standing behind her, the girl said, "Welllll, I didn't tell my mom, but I had a knife out at home this morning and I cut myself...."

Busted.

The good news is (a) she didn't do it on MY watch; (b) she didn't bleed on anything, thanks to my smiley face band aid; and (c) she and her mom had a nice Come to Jesus talk about playing with knives.

Look for my line of custom band aids to come out in the fall.*

*shut up, it could happen













20 comments:

  1. TOTALLY could happen. I'd buy them.

    Have you every bought the duct tape bandages (not REAL band-aids, for sure...)? I got them for Mr AR...they do look like duct tape: http://www.onemoregadget.com/duct-tape-does-work-on-everything-duct-tape-bandages/

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    1. I've never seen the duct tape band aids! Way more manly than wearing a Hello Kitty.

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  2. I know who to come to when I get an ouchie :)

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    1. Ouchies, I can deal with. Just don't throw up in my classroom!

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  3. Ayyo, the little girl sounds like me. I used to love band-aids as a kid and would make one or more cuts on my hand, imaginary ofcourse so that I could show off my band-aid. I liked it tan and plain. Maybe, I didn't have a creative mind back then. I was very naive.

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    1. I had a little girl come to school with a band aid right in the middle of her forehead. Her mom told me she had an imaginary boo boo. The next class day, she had a painful, red place on her forehead, shaped just like a band aid. Seems the band aid irritated her skin and then she had a REAL boo boo on her forehead!

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  4. To be honest, I thought I was going to get to the end of the story to find out the little girl cut herself just so she would wear you fabulous band-aid creation. A bit twisted, but maybe you secretly already have a fan club.

    I will be sure to keep an eye on the band-aid aisle at my nearest drugstore.

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    1. My band aid creations are worth that, but let's hope we don't have 4 year old cutters :)

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  5. I was sure that B would be the infamous Boob limerick... bandaids was pretty cool too!

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    1. Could I have DONE that?! I didn't know if I could use something old or had to write all new stuff. Dammit! That was a great limerick!

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  6. Hmm I was totally guessing the little girl hacked herself up to get into the band-aid club! I'm glad it wasn't anything serious done at school while on your watch. I don't want you to end up in jail and becoming someones...

    By the way, I think that those would make a pretty sweet line of band-aids! I remember growing up and having to use the plain tan ones. Not anymore! Even when I get blood drawn at the doctor's office nowadays I get a snoopy one or another featuring some other cartoon character. It's awesome!

    Why no suckers? Are they at odds with dentists now?

    Lizzi may pretend she needs a band aid, but she just wants her boo boo kissed.

    Jak at The Cryton Chronicles & Dreams in the Shade of Ink

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    1. GAHHHH! No cutters in preschool! I really hate it when one of them gets hurt on my watch, because I have to fill out paper work if it leaves a mark....

      I wouldn't charge as much for licensing MY design as Disney and Mattel, etc., do.

      Doctors give stickers now instead of suckers. How dull is that?

      I do kiss boo boos, although sometimes I blow them a kiss instead, because, you know, eww, it's a boo boo.

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  7. that was wonderful! so glad there was a happy ending! My great neice, when she was a year younger, wore all sorts of band aids in all colors as a fashion accessory! xox jean

    Glad to see you are in the A-Z too!

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    1. I have a lot of band-aids-as-fashion-accessories at preschool. Which is how I blow through all the cute ones so fast and am left with the tan ones. Lots of imaginary boo boos have to be covered with a band aid.

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  8. They do make such fun bandaids now. I had to wear an eye patch when I was little (lazy eye-ugh) and it was an ugly old bandaid color. Now those are all fun too!

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    1. I have a friend who had eye surgery recently and had to wear a patch, and she could coordinate them with her outfits. How cool is that?!

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  9. Haha, I love her simple thought of just drawing on it to make it cute! I love the cool ones out now. My favorite were the crayon band aids in middle school!

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    1. It took a 5 year old to teach me to draw a picture on a plain band aid and make it fun.

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  10. I am a Band-Aid addict! I love buying all the cute little band-aids they have so I guess it's a good thing I have kids. So, yes, when I cut myself you can find me wearing a Hello Kitty band aid, perhaps Ninja Turtles. No Sponge Bob, though. I don't care for Sponge Bob :(

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    1. I can only wear real Band aid brand, or I get a band aid-shaped red splotch on my bad self. Limits the choices.

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