Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails....

My sister called yesterday around 2:30 asking when I was coming to pick Jed up (she keeps him Wednesday, Thursday and Friday). Something in her voice made me answer "Why? When do you need me to pick him up?"

It seems her oldest son (7 years old) fell off the swing set and may have broken his arm. So my mom watched her other 2 kids and Jed until I could get over there. My mom called me later in the evening to tell me that he did indeed broke his right arm, actually both bones just above his wrist in his right arm. However he was still complaining that the other arm hurt too. So off they go to x-ray again and yep....both bones in THAT arm are broken too!!! They splinted both arms and sent him home. They are going to cast them today.

I'm not sure who to feel more sorry for...the 7 year old who is unable to go to the bathroom by himself, who may miss out on joining the swim team this summer, who is unable to play his Gameboy (this is the worst for him). Or my sister who has just seen the first few weeks of her summer vacation take a detour, with a son who is limited in activities and is unable to be entertained for hours with his Gameboy!

Thankfully they estimate he will be in the casts for just 4 weeks. That's 2 more weeks of school and only the first 2 weeks of summer vacation.

This really has been an eyeopener for me. This is probably a glimpse of what I fear I will be facing in the future. Jed is already a daredevil. I knew this even when he was just a year old. One of the throw pillows was on the floor and he kept walking over it BECAUSE IT MADE HIM FALL DOWN. He thought it was fun.

He often bodyslams himself into the side of the sofa and just laughs. Just the other day he was trying to walk up a steep embankment and could only make it up 2 or 3 steps before having to walk back down (backwards mind you) and kept saying "Weeeeeeee" the entire time. He always says "Weeeeeeee" whenever I go over one of those "tummy hills" (you know the ones where your tummy feels like it jumps just a bit). I have also caught him standing on the seat of his little 4-wheeler and pushing the go button. (thankfully the little 4-wheeler goes an exhilarating speed of 1 mile an hour). I can't even imagine the number of times he has been standing on the bed and fallen forward only to crack his head on the wall and yet he still insists on trying to stand on the bed.

You should see his little legs...all the tiny purple and black bruises from running into things, falling, jumping, tackling...He's tough but its only a matter of time before I'll be the one making the run to the ER for broken bones, stitches, concussions....

And this is why having a little boy scares me to death....