A little background first: Shaun's never been much of a risk-taker. Alright, he's a complete chicken. He never wants to try anything new, doesn't ever fold to peer pressure, doesn't push himself or challenge himself. Until recently, that is. Now suddenly he's trying all this new stuff and I'm completely thrilled about it but he's learned there's sometimes consequences.
I've watched kids climb on this small storage building at the park. It's about 8 feet tall and has a flat roof. Kids shimmy up the drain pipe and use the hydro pole to brace themselves against as they pull themselves up to the roof. They sit up there and goof around, watching the smaller kids play on the playground nearby. I've given kids heck for sitting up there. Mostly because there's an electrical wire that travels from the pole into the side of the building that I'm petrified one will get electrocuted from, but also because it's downright dangerous. It's a pretty small building; about 10 feet by 6 feet, and 8 feet tall, so there's not much room for a lot of people up there and I've seen up to 10 kids up there at once. I've forbidden Shaun to climb up there and he's been with me when I told other kids it's not a good idea.
Craig and Shaun went to this park on the weekend and Shaun asked to climb the building. Craig simply can't tell Shaun not to do something that he would have done himself at the same age. (Craig also spray painted the front steps of a church early Easter Sunday morning, smashed signs in a drive-thru, and stole a car as a kid! I don't see where his logic makes sense. But that's for a completely different post.) So Shaun learned how to climb onto the roof of this storage building. He came home all excited that he did it himself and insisted I watch him do it at the very next opportunity. I made sure to remind Craig that I absolutely do NOT allow Shaun to climb on this building for the reasons I mentioned and all he could say was that he would have done something similar as a kid so he couldn't tell Shaun, "No". Please.
Well, long story short, Shaun broke his arm yesterday while showing me how he climbs up this building. He somehow got his shirt caught on the way down and fell the whole 8 feet and landed on his elbow. It's broken just above where his upper arm joins at his elbow. He's wearing a temporary cast until next Wednesday when the swelling should be gone and he returns to the fracture clinic for a permanent cast. Craig went with him to the hospital and says Shaun was pretty brave, especially when it came time for him to move his arm around for x-rays and to get the cast on.
Shaun stayed home from school today but he'll be back tomorrow; showing off his cast, I'm sure.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
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4 comments:
That's exactly where Nolan broke his arm!!! Did he see Dr. Stevenson? He's really really nice. Hope he heals quickly. He was originally supposed to have the cast on 8 weeks (including the temp cast), which seemed like FOREVER, but it only ended up being 5 weeks because he healed faster than expected. He's now seeing a PT because he can't bend it, but that is not the norm at all. His bicep muscle has seized and he has scar tissue so the PT is working on breaking all that down. And maybe we'll see you at the fracture clinic one day, we've got an appointment coming up for a follow up visit.
As soon as Craig told me where the break was I thought of Nolan! Yes, Dr. Stevenson is the one looking after Shaun. We're heading to the fracture clinic next Wednesday morning. Talk about a bizarre injury and even more bizarre that both our kids have suffered it!
His story sounds identical to Nolan! When I was searching around online it seemed to be a very common break in kids. I think I read it was the most common? Our next visit at the clinic is mid-november...maybe our paths will cross. Wouldn't that be cool?! Although not under the best circumstances.
Poor Shaun! Poor Mommy! He'll be fine though, in the long run. It won't be but another day when he's begging you for a marker so his friends can draw all over it! Will he get to pick a color on the permanent cast? They will sweeten the deal a little! After India had her wrist surgery, she was ecstatic that they used purple dressing!
As for Craig, I hope he's in a time out for teaching Shaun! Bad daddy (although I'm sure he's now rethinking the situation).
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