Andrew Dubber     

The Dawsons and Jake stroll the bitterly cold streets of Hall Green

My sister Kerryn, her husband Haydn and their two boys Shay and Zac came to visit from London. We just kind of hung out – a stroll to the shops, a play on the Wii (Haydn brought theirs and has left it with Jake for the school holidays), sitting around drinking coffee and talking about the difference between London prices and reality.

Later, Jake babysat while Bobbie, the Dawson grown-ups and I went to Juliet and Louise’s housewarming party, where we ate quiche, drank beer and talked about blogs and marathons. It was a really laid back and relaxed visit.

Until…

Zac sports a stylish wound

Now, I’d always thought that Jake would be the first in the family with a tongue piercing. But no – apparently, it was a race and my 1 year-old nephew Zac has taken first place.

There’s a tradition in New Zealand culture for children to run around the house – tearing about from inside to outside, and occasionally running headlong through sliding glass doors. There’s even a law now that says if you have a sliding glass door, you have to have a safety strip so that the glass is more visible at high speeds.

Even though Zac is capable of working up a bit of a pace, he actually managed to fall through our sliding door while completely stationary. And he missed the glass altogether. He was leaning against the door… except it wasn’t there. And in one long, comedy moment – he just kept leaning until he was flat on the ground.

But then the comedy stopped and all the blood started. As he fell, he’d managed to bite through his tongue. Not bad with only a couple of teeth to work with.

Tears were shed and glasses of salt water were fetched — but within minutes the panic that had erupted in our house had been entirely dissipated with talk of an Easter Egg hunt. The car was packed and off they went, Zac happy but tired after his little ordeal.

I think I’d still be in tears…

Tagged: Birmingham, Personal