Did that REALLY happen??? Some days I can't believe it!!!

I had a bad day last week. And when I say bad day, it was truly brutal. I had a bad reaction to medication that caused my hands to swell up so badly that one of my rings, my engagement ring that I had proudly lost weight for, was stuck. I tried EVERYTHING to get it off. And when I say everything, I mean everything. I tried soap, stuck my hands in ice (well, we didn't have ice, so I used snow), I even stooped to using windex. Nothing worked. I tried to ignore it, but the swelling continued.

I did some research to try and find out where I could have it removed without doing the most damage. The jewelers I called all claimed they could have it off in 10 minutes. They lied. My engagement ring has a super thick band, so it wasn't coming off with their cheap blades. They suggested I go to the ER or the Fire Department. I didn't want to spend 4 hours with all three of my children in an emergency room, just to have my ring cut off.

So we had a nice impromptu field trip to the fire department. The kids were excited, except Caleb who didn't want to do anything but sit and read. Christian couldn't even contain his excitement. There is something about 4 year olds and their fire engines. Its pretty cute.

Anyways, we get there and I, already embarressed about what I need to do, asked if they could cut a ring off my finger. The fire man was absolutely polite to the core. He had us come in to the immaculate station and told the boys they could have a tour of the station when we were done. As he went to fetch the blade, a younger, I'm assuming a rookie, fire fighter came up to Caleb and said he was going to cut my finger off. I looked at him in horror. Caleb looked at him with his big blue puppy dog eyes and burst into tears. I didn't know who to comfort first. The poor fireman was beside himself trying to comfort Caleb. I explained to the poor guy that Caleb had Autism and they took things very literally. The fire fighter nodded and looked horrified. He apologized and kept repeating we are not going to cut your mommy's finger off, just the ring.

I finally calmed Caleb down, who became amused with the sticker the fire fighter brought him. The ring cutting was pretty simple and then the kids got their tour of the station.

I am not upset, because the poor guy thought Caleb was just a regular kid who would understand he was joking. I even laugh about it now. Its just one of those moments where you go: Did that really just happen??? I guess someone needs to give the fire fighters some sensitivity training or something...but wow, there is no words to describe THAT situation. It was just NOT my day!