When Life Gives You Lemons... The Time Ian Broke His Arm
We had planned to go on a Walktober hike but plans, once again, changed rather unexpectedly. My oldest son fell while ice skating yesterday and fractured his wrist. His entire arm was wrapped from fingertips to elbow several times over making it rather awkward for him to get around.
This morning found him in a wrap done up by the emergency room last night that, while great at keeping his wrist steady, had made it rather impossible for us to much of anything. It was very heavy and the sling hurt his neck if he had to use it for very long. The whole thing had rather thrown me off as he can't play Lego's, play- doh, do art projects, or much of anything with one hand completely out of commission.
As I was making beds I was going through some of the projects I had planned for today and kept thinking hmm.. how's he going to do that? And the short answer was he isn't. Sure we could still do our art projects and someone else could help him draw and cut but then it's not his art project. We could still read about medieval times and I could make his catapult for him but again, it's not his project then.
So I started thinking about what he CAN still do. He's left handed so he can still write, play board games, listen to stories, watch educational TV programs/ movies, go on short outings, etc. The more I thought about it the more our day started taking shape.
We started our day reading Make Way for Ducklings.
Then Ian called us all to window because he saw the heron on our beach. As we were watching the heron we saw a bird land on a branch just above the lake. It had a white ring around it's neck, a crest on it's head and a rather larger pointed beak. At first we thought it was a wood pecker and went to get Alec's bird book. Then we saw it dive straight into the water and catch a bird. After looking through the bird book we're pretty sure it was a kingfisher. It was really neat to see and it's these neat moments of the day where we get a glimpse of something completely unexpected that turns our learning direction for a moment or two that I just love. Seriously, it's one of my favorite aspects of homeschooling.
We learned about the state of Connecticut today. I once again had them find it on the map, and fill out our typical map worksheets. We learned the state song is Yankee Doodle, the state bird is the robin and the state flower is the mountain laurel.
While Alec was finishing up his sheets I had Ian work on another Shel Silverstein math sheet. This one was all about money so and Ian was able to complete the whole thing independently and accurately.
The plan had been to then read a bunch of books about Connecticut but I got a call from the Dr., looking to see Ian in a half hour, so we, once again, modified our agenda for the day. Alec brought his math workbook with him and finished it up in the waiting room. We learned the Dr. was now running behind and luckily my husband works nearby and was able to come collect my youngest two. He took them to lunch and then back to his office with him. It was a good thing he did too since we ended up being at the Dr.'s from 11:15 until 2:00!
By that time school was over for the day. Ian and I were both tired, cranky, and starving. It had been painful and stressful for me watching him crying on and off getting nervous about having a cast put on and any pain that might occur. He complained he was hungry, that his arm hurt when they examined and re- x-rayed it, and it hurt when they casted it too.
It was an emotionally draining afternoon for us both. I had so much more planned for today but, oh well! Sometimes life gets in the way of plans, I was joking with Ian that it was like when you're at school and the teacher has her lesson all ready to go and the fire alarm goes off. By the time you get back into the building the time for that lesson has passed and you move on.
Luckily there's always tomorrow. For now, we'll go outside, get some fresh air and play. Within moments he was digging in the dirt using his shovel & trucks one- handed!
This morning found him in a wrap done up by the emergency room last night that, while great at keeping his wrist steady, had made it rather impossible for us to much of anything. It was very heavy and the sling hurt his neck if he had to use it for very long. The whole thing had rather thrown me off as he can't play Lego's, play- doh, do art projects, or much of anything with one hand completely out of commission.
As I was making beds I was going through some of the projects I had planned for today and kept thinking hmm.. how's he going to do that? And the short answer was he isn't. Sure we could still do our art projects and someone else could help him draw and cut but then it's not his art project. We could still read about medieval times and I could make his catapult for him but again, it's not his project then.
So I started thinking about what he CAN still do. He's left handed so he can still write, play board games, listen to stories, watch educational TV programs/ movies, go on short outings, etc. The more I thought about it the more our day started taking shape.
We started our day reading Make Way for Ducklings.
We learned about the state of Connecticut today. I once again had them find it on the map, and fill out our typical map worksheets. We learned the state song is Yankee Doodle, the state bird is the robin and the state flower is the mountain laurel.
While Alec was finishing up his sheets I had Ian work on another Shel Silverstein math sheet. This one was all about money so and Ian was able to complete the whole thing independently and accurately.
The plan had been to then read a bunch of books about Connecticut but I got a call from the Dr., looking to see Ian in a half hour, so we, once again, modified our agenda for the day. Alec brought his math workbook with him and finished it up in the waiting room. We learned the Dr. was now running behind and luckily my husband works nearby and was able to come collect my youngest two. He took them to lunch and then back to his office with him. It was a good thing he did too since we ended up being at the Dr.'s from 11:15 until 2:00!
By that time school was over for the day. Ian and I were both tired, cranky, and starving. It had been painful and stressful for me watching him crying on and off getting nervous about having a cast put on and any pain that might occur. He complained he was hungry, that his arm hurt when they examined and re- x-rayed it, and it hurt when they casted it too.
It was an emotionally draining afternoon for us both. I had so much more planned for today but, oh well! Sometimes life gets in the way of plans, I was joking with Ian that it was like when you're at school and the teacher has her lesson all ready to go and the fire alarm goes off. By the time you get back into the building the time for that lesson has passed and you move on.
Luckily there's always tomorrow. For now, we'll go outside, get some fresh air and play. Within moments he was digging in the dirt using his shovel & trucks one- handed!
Comments
Post a Comment