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Saturday, May 1, 2010

It's all fun and games until ....

You know the old saying ... It's all fun and games, until ... someone gets hurt.

After a soccer game on Tuesday evening, I realized - with four kids, we have not experienced a broken bone yet ... until Tuesday.

Emme's first soccer scrimmage of the season - and she was playing really well. Angling in to score a goal, with her body focusing all it's energy on the ball, her opponent collided with her and she went down - hard.

I knew instantly it was a bad injury. Her body just kindof caved in around itself as she got to her feet and walked slowly to the sideline.

I could see by the way she carried herself she was in a lot of pain. I watched as she got to the sideline on the other side of the field, and the coach and her put their heads together - and suddenly the coach's head snapped up to search the sidelines where the parents were sitting.

That was my cue to walk to the other side. He met me half-way and said "I haven't told her yet - but her wrist is broken. You'll need to get her to the hospital right away."

By the time I reached Emme - she was cradling her wrist against her stomach, and she had that sickly white palor to her face, and was trembling. Every little seam we crossed on the highway sent a fresh jolt of pain through her. X-rays showed that she had indeed broken her wrist, at a growth plate, and would need to see an orthopedic surgeon. Words like "surgery" and "pins" floated about.

Long story short ... she spent that first night wracked with pain, sleeping fitfully for only a few hours on the couch. After a consult with the surgeon - she'll get a cast on Monday (after the swelling has gone down) and the surgeon is fairly confident that it will heal correctly and quickly without surgery and without pins.

We are fortunate!

She is supporting her team from the sidelines today. She'll get a cast on Monday, and will be able to play again perhaps by next weekend. She'll need a pad for her cast so that she doesn't inadvertently (or purposefully) club another player.

She asked me later, "Mom, have you ever broken a bone?" "Yes," I told her, "but it was only my neck." (A diving accident when I was a freshman in high school. I too - am very fortunate.)

She looked at me and said "Oh, I forgot." And not to minimize the pain she was in, I smiled and said, "But I'm sure your injury is much worse." She snorted a laugh at me and then winced in pain because it jolted her wrist.


In other fun and games ... Wesley wanted to play "Kerplunk" but I don't think this is what he had in mind. He was amused ... but not nearly as amused as I was.


And no - this wasn't the kids' idea of fun - it was MY idea of fun.

That's how I roll. (I use "hip" language like that just for the affectionate reaction I get from my daughters - they roll their eyes at me.)

If you think our game of "Kerplunk" looks fun, you should see how we play "Mousetrap"!


BLOG GIVEAWAY!!
So - I'm curious about the silly games you play with your kids? You know, the ones that really bring out the belly laughs!? Leave me a comment so we can share in the hilarity. Or just leave me a comment to enter the giveaway.

Every comment will go in a drawing for Tom Davis' book "RED LETTERS, Living a Faith that Bleeds".

Children's Hopechest (http://www.hopechest.org/) gave me a new copy of the book at the Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) Summit meeting here in Minneapolis yesterday. It's one of my favorite books and I want one of you to have it! When you leave a comment, make sure I know how to contact you in case YOU are the lucky winner!



And please don't forget to click over to Alisa Martin's blog to purchase a personalized, hand-made Mother's Day card. ONLY TWO DAYS LEFT! Alisa will be mailing the cards on Monday - and 100% of the proceeds will go to Kind Hearts in Ethiopia for playground equipment. Alisa is donating her time, material and postage.


This weekend - instead of going to the store for a Mother's Day card, spend that same $5 (or more) to celebrate your Mom and make a difference for the kids at Kind Hearts in Ethiopia. So far - we have raised just over $1,100 with the Mother's Day cards. The playground equipment will cost $2,850. Please click over to http://www.vinceandalisa.blogspot.com/ and give generously on behalf of your mom!


This is the playground equipment (above) at Kind Hearts - a crooked little swingset with two swings, shared between 68 kids. And below is the playground equipment at our little neighborhood park.


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

FYI... Quarter inch thick foam and duct tape make great padding (our son did the same thing during a soccer game).

However, if she still winces in pain (until the day of the game) don't let her play even if she insits she is fine. My son had a similar break and insisted that his arm was fine and he could play. It turns out that he was in pain and just wanted to play (and it was in tremendous pain the next few days) :)

The Raymers. said...

Connect 4 is our favorite. You wouldn't believe the competition!

crispy said...

Fun games...um...the big kids love Quirkle, Enchanted Forest, Sorry and Rush Hour. The little guys just love when Daddy tickles them after bath time and they have their jammies on.

I think you still have my email. If not, I will get it to you.

Cris P

Karla said...

Karen - You know we kick everyone's butt with movie quotes! :) But our new favorite is to sing opera as obnoxiously as possible - and we score each other! PS - I usually win! :)

Mike and Amy said...

My 4 year old from Ethiopia looked up from playing with play-dough right as I was looking at the pictures of "Ker-plunk!" With a slight panic in his voice he said, "Mommy-a, what's that?!" When I told him it was a silly game, he replied, "Eyob no like that game." This Mommy thought both hilarious!
In His Love,
Amy - AW ET YG
Mom to John Eyob and Ryan Ephrem