Risky Play

So one of my sisters just said "Go forth and update your blog.  It's been ages" (since I wrote something profound).  Or at least, I hope that's what she was thinking in begging me to put some thoughts on e-paper.  So I've turned the Hilltop Hoods up loud and am writing....

"Working Mum with Loads of Children" has been busy with the usual pursuits.  Washing clothes, moving house, walking kids to school, working (!), baby wrestling (or at least attempting to stop her pulling the computer cables out of the wall).

Apart from the normal stuff, #1 boy has broken his ankle.  We recently sold our unit and bought a back yard (and a tiny 2 bed-room Federation house.  The word 'villa' seems to overstate it).  And erected the trampoline.  Oh, what a relief, the children have some room to belt about, to get all that energy out before bedtime without ruining the furniture.  It's been great.  So relaxing.  Such fun.

For a week or two, anyway.  Until they were all on there together with an adult, and #1 fell awkwardly and started yelling in pain. The ankle started to swell, so we put ice on it and waited.  Nurofen seemed to help things, and he limped around a bit for the rest of the afternoon.  But just to be cautious I took him in the GP in the morning.  The GP recommended an x-ray, and we found an "undisplaced fracture" on the pointy bit of the ankle bone.  Too swollen for a plaster, but broken enough for crutches.

So many people have said "perhaps you should have a 'one-kid-at-a-time' rule for the trampoline".  Perhaps, but where is the fun in that?

Now #1 kid is pretty active, and therefore really quite bad at resting, so it was no surprise that it hadn't made any progress after two weeks, and no surprise that after another three weeks he re-injured it.  This time, we took him into RPA in an attempt to get a moon-boot (which would at least ensure the joint was protected while he ran around "resting").

But the doctor wasn't interested.  Mostly the damage is ligament damage (in old speak - a sprained ankle), and therefore if he rests the ligament then the bone will also heal.  The fact that we were here for a second time because this strategy hadn't worked the first time fell on deaf ears.  So we are back to compression bandages, yelling "Rest that foot" as he races past and the odd "Please rest, I don't want to see you hurt again".

The trampoline rules haven't been changed.  They remain "no sharp things, no eating, no jumping if someone is underneath".  "Risky play" is becoming the new parenting fad.  It's even an evolutionary response to ensure safety as adults, according to this study.  I agree with the idea of learning to evaluate risk at an early age, and won't be changing the trampoline rules to 'only one person at a time'.