Second or Third Aid will not do...

I overthink and over prepare. It drives people around me crazy, I know it does, but I'm powerless to stop it.

When Lyssa was in Girl Scouts and I was the troop leader and we were preparing for a weekend outing or other event, I thought about it for weeks ahead of time. I made lists. My lists had lists. I had lists taped to the dishwasher and lists next to the bed. I woke up in the middle of the night with all kinds of ideas that would keep me awake unless I wrote them down.

Eric always said that it didn't matter what I brought or what we did, that the girls would have a good time even if I brought nothing, and he was right. I knew it then and I know it now. Didn't matter. My inner planning bitch wouldn't let me rest until every detail was worked out.

It's not just that long-ago Girl Scout troop.
It's my own brand of crazy. I've always had it, that obsessing and stressing thing I do.

The way it manifests now is in preparation and stockpiling for my job. My house is a mess, there is workstuff in every room of the house. Well, almost. I suppose the bathroom doesn't have any craft supplies or pieces of wood or marbles.

It also manifests itself in whatever location I'm working.

I'm not content with the lack of things for kids to do. It's not that the company won't provide them if I ask, though. It might take awhile, but with very few exceptions, they've purchased everything I've asked for so far.

Occasionally I'm shopping at Goodwill and find something that the kids will really enjoy at an amazing price. Yesterday I got an 80 dollar set of magnatiles for $5.99.

The box looked brand new. Turns out it had been opened and ONE tile was missing. The rest were there and in new condition. I didn't buy them for my site, we have a ton. But the little site where I'm working summer could really use them, so I added them to their bin and threw away the box they were in.

So I do have a point here.
It's about my first aid kit.

The company provides the things that are required under state licensing.
Bandages, little wipes to cleanse a wound, tweezers. A thermometer and covers to use it. A CPR barrier, one of the cheesy little ones they give you when you take your CPR class. Some instant ice packs. It's not intended to be a medical kit for a war zone.

And during summer, we're allowed to bring a minimum kit.
My sidekick carries a little package of bandages and thinks that's enough.

I took all the things I find relevant from the kit and put them in a 2 gallon ziplock bag. To that, I added a few things. I have a separate bag in my backpack for my own use, it contains triple antibiotic cream, cortisone cream, bandages.

In our kit for everyone, I have a real CPR mask ( the silicone kind), some sanitary napkins for compresses in case of bad bleeding, a spare t shirt in case someone bleeds or barfs or gets something disagreeable on his/her shirt in the bathroom (oh yes, that has happened more than once) disposable gloves, three instant ice packs, empty gallon ziplocks for disposal of stuff, a pen, the emergency contact information for every child in our care, tweezers and bandages and the thermometer. I carry all of that in my backpack, but when we're on an outing and it's time for me to take a break, I hand off to Marlene. Marlene never fails to complain about it, it takes up too much space and it's heavy and blah blah blah. I just tell her that she won't have to carry it for long.

She adds that she, "Doesn't see a need to carry all that stuff, what do we need it for?"

Okay, guess where this is going.

Never mind, I'll tell you.

On Friday afternoon, we were at the swimming pool. There is an age restriction due to insurance regulations in our company. If a child is not yet age 6, he or she cannot get into the pool.

So I sit with the ones who can't go in. We do little crafty things, chit chat and generally hang out, waiting for everyone to finish swimming so we can get on the bus and go back to our school.

Sitting with us last Friday was Anna, a lady who's working with the group who shares our bus. I think she's close to my age, but she's kind of... delicate. She has a difficult time getting around. Very soft-voiced, the kids don't listen to her at all. They seem to like her, she is kind to them, but not much of an authority.

One of the kids who could swim but decided not to changed his mind. Anna went and got Graham, the only male staff person with us and he got out of the pool to escort the little guy to the locker room.

She came back and sat down, then realized the kid had forgotten his backpack. She jumped up and grabbed it and started to make her way through the jumble of backpacks and chairs and towels and lunchbags to take it to him. She tripped and went face first into the metal bar on a lounge chair. It was a terrible crash. She hit her face and her mouth and a wrist and skinned her hands.

I started pulling out first aid supplies for her.
Marlene was helping her up, getting ice on her lip.

It was a mess. She ended up needing medical attention and went to get checked out at a hospital, but I learned today that she is okay, just was bruised and confused. It really was an awful fall.

And Marlene said to me, "I am so glad you had all that stuff with you! I never thought about an adult getting hurt!"

I didn't bother telling her that it's really for the kids and that I don't like to be without those things just in case, but it's true.

And I'll be bringing it everywhere we go, just the way I always do.

When the school year starts back up, I'll have a first aid kit that's far beyond what's legally required because it makes me feel better.

The old saying, I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it is apparently my mantra.

That and don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.
There's room in my personal philosophy for that, too.