Running with scissors

Running with scissors would be safer than what my child does. My child runs with a broken leg in a cast. He runs with his Frankenstein boot on one foot, and his Nike shock on the other. It drives me crazy! We are only 3 days into this fracture, and my blood pressure is up. Way up.

It seems my son has either re-injured an old boo boo, or he has not been allowing it heal properly. The original break was not casted, because it was so small, it couldn't be seen. So, we played it by ear knowing if he continued to have a problem with it, we could do another xray and would be able to see the new bone growth if it was a break. Daniel did really well, and I assumed he did NOT have a break. After about three weeks of normal behavior, the limp returned! Off we went, back to our fabulous ortho for xrays. The doctor saw the fracture in some state of healing and said it was up to me about casting. Based on his past behavior, I decided to just get it in a cast to give this thing a chance to heal properly.

We picked out a nice 'Carolina Blue' and went with traditional fiberglass (no waterproof this time). He sat there so nicely, watching his leg get bundled up in cotton and cast. It made me sad that he's already accepted this as normal. The minute the last piece of fiberglass is on, he says "done done! down! down!" and he is off. Off and RUNNING. My child is running on a broken leg with a cast that is not even dry. He runs down the hall, peeking in doors (sorry HIPA violations!) and finally gets to the end of the hall, where his doctor is. "Done done!" he says, waving bye bye. That is his way of saying "I prefer not to have to wait for you to come back and check on me. Mom knows the drill, we're leaving". He gives and gets his "high fives", and I get the "we'll bill the copay or catch you next time!" and he drags me out the door.

At home, the real fun begins. Tripping as his feet 'stick' to the carpet. Falling as he regains his balance. Flying head first and biting the dust because his upper body went he faster than his new, heavier, left foot. He heads for the kitchen, and nearly does a split, as we both realize, he has no traction on the tile. I am sweating from chasing him. Repeat this process about 60 times, and that was my weekend :)

He has mastered walking, and almost mastered running. I let him fall today and skin his knee. I felt, badly at first, but he needs to figure out his limits so he can be safe. There was no comprise on the tile floor. He has learned to stop where the carpet ends, to sit down, and crawl across it - and I am proud of him. Now if only he would agree to sit and do puzzles all day....