My son broke his arm last night, just above the elbow and had to have the bones wired together. He's 5. I can't come home to see him
I have but he is still in hospital. I called him just now and he seems better than I had expected. Thankfully it was not an unsightly break; extremely painful but no extra elbows or blood. The mental trauma will be minimal for him and his brother. I'm grateful that the incident was non-violent i.e. he fell off a swing in the park, he wasn't in a car crash or something and that he wasn't on his own at the time. His older brother (6) and an adult were on site so assistance and comfort were immediate. This is one of my worst nightmares, become real.
Sorry to hear you can't be there. My daughter broke her arm falling down the stairs when she was 4. She remembers it but it doesn't bother her..... The cast was the most exciting thing! They mend quickly and it's all part of growing up...... At least that's what I told the social worker!
I agree that in the medium to long term, he will be absolutely fine. But today, this morning, he is in a bad way. I have always expected to be the filter between bad stuff that happens in the world and my children. I don't want my boy to ever know how that kind of pain feels. He shouldn't have to deal with the trauma of an accident and the (probably slight) difficulties that will result. He has some issues as it is, with interpersonal and social development and I don't want this to be a catalyst for a further decline. I'm sure this is a normal reaction to an incident involving kids, and I know it is quite minor in the big scheme of things, but I wish I could have been there to stop it. I'm certain he was doing something that I would have told him off for at the time!
I feel for you and your son, I know the feeling, my son broke his arm aged 2, then the same arm in the same place aged 3. Then he got meningitis aged 4, all of these things happened when I was at/away for work, I felt inadequate as my primary duty is to protect my family from harm. Hope your son feels better and heals well.
total bummer must reinforce your desire to return for career change. my 5year old daughter broke her arm last year two hours after me saying this new bunk bed is to high. within 24hours she was using her stookie as a club on her big brother.
My daughter broke her arm a couple of years ago tbh I think she quite enjoyed the attention she got with the pink cast. 6 weeks and she was right as rain, you can't wrap them up in cotton wool Tom, life is full of a few knocks and scrapes
Thanks for all your well wishes. Carlos, protecting him from life's knocks and thinking a helical fracture to the humerus is just part of growing up are slightly different.
Your angst at not being there is probably worse than what he's experiencing, as others have said, its a big adventure - it might hurt at times, but being a soldier, like his Dad, he'll be doing just fine.
I know from experience Tom that distressed family members are often in a worse state than the victim , who will be enjoying the extra attention , and lets face it , casts are cool . Kids falling off things and breaking arms is so normal , but at the same time your 1st major injury can be a positive turning point in development. At some stage in life we all learn ( somehow ) that we are not bulletproof and I guess , within reason , the sooner we find this out for ourselves ( and its not something anyone can tell you because kids don't listen ) the better .Every time he gets a bit of altitude ( be it tree , jungle gym, whatever )your lad will always remember about gravity and the painful stop at the bottom , and breaking his arm at age 5 may be the thing that stops him breaking his neck at age 6. I don't mean to sound uncaring but I have had to get real good at finding "silver linings " and to find a small positive in an unhappy situation can be the way to get thru it
Poor little bugger. My two year old grandson broke his leg about three weeks after learning to walk but he's running around like a lunatic now. Hope your son gets well real soon!
Now the initial shock of incident is over he's fine. Obviously it is sore but he is back at school and has more sweets in his house than there are in the sweetie aisle in my local shop. I'm definitely coming home though, I need to be around for my kids. I'll hopefully be home before April is over.
I wish I'd been around more for the lads when I was younger. I'm not making that mistake with my grandchildren
