This morning Ben came downstairs in obvious pain, gripping the back of his neck and wailing.

“Mom! MOM! When I was putting my shirt on something went “pop” in my neck and it hurts really badly!!!”

Can he move his limbs? Yes.

Are his eyes dilating? Yes. (not sure why I thought that, but it seemed like a good thing to check)

But if he has to move to look to his left, his whole body tenses up and he starts crying all over again.

What does the panicky mother think? Oh NO! Meningitis! Aneurysm! Possibly Fatal Neck Injury!

Do I call the ambulance? What?! What?! Think. Think.

Call doctor and secure mid-morning appointment. Think more.

Google a little but not too much since we all know THAT isn’t helpful.

Start asking more questions about what exactly happened.

Then it comes out. This wasn’t an injury that happened when he was putting his shirt on, but instead something that happened as a result of him putting his shirt on really hard.

Like, it got stuck on the top of his head so he gave it a good yank and probably strained a neck muscle in the process.

OK. Guess we don’t need that appointment after all.