Have you ever started your day thinking it was going to be great and then it turned out to be a roasted marshmallow to the face sorta day? Well that's what happened to my daughter last week while roasting marshmallows as a family.
My older daughter took her marshmallow from the hot flaming fire and thought she blew out all the fire that was completely covering it. Guess what, she didn't and... boom the two of them crashed into each other. The next thing I know, my daughter Hailey (9) was screaming and grabbing her forehead. She was so upset that she couldn't speak at first to tell us what was wrong. All she did was grab at the marshmallow stuck to her face and scream. Once we figured out what was wrong, everyone signaled for her to jump in the pool. She dunked her head under and came up still crying and screaming as if the pain was still raw as ever. We ran inside to the freezer and gave her ice. She didn't really like holding the ice to her head since it was "freaking cold," as she put it. She changed into her pajamas and continued to reluctantly hold the ice pack to her head. The roasting of marshmallows as you can imagine, came to an immediate end of course.
Hailey and I were now laying down watching Alexa and Kate together on Netflix. I put some bag balm and then later bacitracin on her forehead. We continued to watch Alexa and Kate while stroking her hair until she fell asleep.
I couldn't believe that this actually happened to her. We have been roasting marshmallows for years upon years and have never seen this happen or even heard of a friend or anyone I know having this happen...ever. Right away I kicked myself thinking I should of been stricter and told the kids to sit down right after they put their stick in the fire. Or maybe spaced them out better? I'm not really sure what I should of done differently but I couldn't help but think it was my fault.
My older daughter Katie (13) was upset because she felt terrible that she burned her sisters face. She didn't know how to react and kept laughing out of nervousness, which did NOT help the situation at All.
Below is a picture of Hailey when she finally fell asleep about an hour after her "marshmallow to the face moment."
I mean...have you ever?? The sweetest little face just traumatized by an enflamed marshmallow. I wish I could take the pain and memory of that moment away. It was so horrific. I started to inspect where she was branded by the marshmallow right on her forehead and thought it was actually NOT that bad. Boy, was I wrong. She woke up the next morning and her forehead was blistered and still burning (see picture below). We went straight to urgent care and then sent to a plastic surgeon. YES you heard that right. A plastic surgeon. I couldn't believe it. I was not ready to hear that she needed surgery because of a fun marshmallow night gone wrong! Once we got there, we were greeted by the sweetest plastic surgeon. He was an older man and said she is absolutely fine and all we need to do is put bacitracin on it for the next 7-10 days. The worst news he had for Hailey was that she can't be in the sun for those 7-10 days which meant no pool or beach. That's not news that any kid wants to hear, especially during the summer! He also said to invest in a sun hat and really good sunscreen that had specific ingredients in them. I can't remember at the moment what the ingredients were, but he actually gave me a list of the best sunscreens to use on her skin after a burn. 
Fast forward to twenty four hours later, my resilient little girl is happy as ever sporting her homemade hat that she put on to check "her garden." She told me that she is ok with staying away from the sun for 7-10 days and even came up with some ideas of things we could do together and with friends that are indoors. She didn't mope, she didn't complain and she didn't feel sorry for herself. Instead she was grateful that she didn't get even more hurt. She told me she was happy that it wasn't worse and realized that it could of been.
Somehow this little girl who is just 9 years old has already figured out an important life skill to be happy that many adults haven't even been able to do yet.
Always be grateful for what you have and make the best of your situation, because it could always be worse.
She didn't say those words exactly, but her actions definitely were of a very mature, sweet natured child who will not allow a negative situation to get her down.
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