Poor little guy ! Hugs from France sent his way … he should practice his right hand though ! Maybe collage, stickers or crayons first ? Take care.

Mommy guilt…. I’m learning this never goes away. My son is currently transitioning into a toddler bed and putting him to bed at night is difficult. Letting him cry it out is not easy for me. Like you, I have been thinking about other mothers who have lost children (agree don’t want to go there) and mothers who have kids who are ill. I lay in bed at night listening to my son cry and it makes me think of these mothers. I know deep in my heart that they would stay awake hours rocking their child or lying in bed with them just to have more time with them….

Everett will be back to his normal self soon enough. My mother once told me that “kids grow up inspite of us”. I keep that in my mind and repeat it as needed. HAHA

If you haven’t already, check out these cast covers – http://www.curad.com/products/specialty/castprotectors.asp – they come in kiddo sizes too! They are waterproof and reusable, so if Everett needs a little sprinkler time outside, or maybe helping HH wash a car, he’s got it made in the shade. I used these when I had foot surgery, and the relief of being able to shower without having to construct some ridiculous cast cover out of a garbage sack was somewhat soul-saving. They look goofy straight out of the package, and you’ll likely wonder how they’ll ever work based on their looks, but they are little latex miracles :) (wow, that sounded rather contraceptive, didn’t it?)

Hope the arms and hearts in your house are feeling better today!

Ugh. I hear you! Every last word rings true. I spent May, June and July helping my 23 year old son who fractured his skull and c-1 vertebrae (in 3 places) in a rock climbing accident. It was the worst of times, but it was also the best of times – it gave him a much-needed down-time from school/work/and the whirlwind activities he is involved in, like ballet and rockclimbing. It gave me 3 months of being with him – really being with him and caring for him, something I’ve missed since he went away to college. And he healed wonderfully and was a champ patient during that time (even when I found him up at all hours of the night because he couldn’t sleep) and I have an inkling of what he’s “made of” and who this young man really is, now. He’s back at college…but your post brought all those close-to-the-surface emotions right back again. My best to Everett and his recovery – and yours too!

I totally get the guilt.

My son broke his collar bone last year when he wasn’t even 2 1/2. It was a complete and total accident (he fell out of chair and put his arms out to break his fall), but we didn’t realize anything was wrong because he had no pain right away. Cue the doctor coming in nearly two days after the injury and my shocked face when he said was broken. TWO DAYS. After normal todler roughhousing.

I still feel guilty and he’s perfectly fine, having healed crazy-fast.

ugh…I fell for you. When my now 3 year old daughter was 20 months old, she climbed out of, or fell out of her crib. and broke her arm in two places. It was bad. Like, it looked like she had a second elbow bad. I almost threw up just looking at it. We ran to the hospital fast, and she had surgery to fix it. Even though tons of kids get out of cribs, and I really shouldnt have I had BAD mom guilt. It was the saddest thing. She is fine now, but It was rough. She didnt understand what was happening to her at all. Glad your boy is ok.

Ouch! But as usual, you seem to have a sense of balance about kids, family time, and house tweaking. Everett’s spirits and his energy will come roaring back. He’s a sturdy little guy with health-conscious parents. In the meantime, it can be good for the rush of modern life to slow down a bit–despite the unhappy cause. Wishing you all lots of patience and laughter despite the broken bones, and of course, speedy healing for that arm.

Nothing like something going on with your kids to help you slow down! At age 15, my son broke his leg playing soccer and his foot was literally hanging off his leg, with only skin and tendons holding it on. It was horrifying – and equally horrifying was the attempt to manually align the bones. Surgery was required but not after significant trauma to him and me in the meantime (I can’t believe I was actually wishing for a hammer to just knock him out at the time!!).

Post surgery, he watched a lot of movies, we did a lot of puzzles and I made him his favourite foods every day. Fortunately, that time did not last long and as soon as the swelling went down, he was bounding around on his crutches.

What amazed me most was how resilient he was and how quickly he recovered. He broke his leg at the beginning of August and was back playing full time in January. Your son will be bounding around very soon and he’ll be back to normal before you know it!

When I broke my wrist, I found it much easier to write/draw/etc when the instruments were fat enough for my rigid wrist position to handle. Maybe you could fashion some extra-thick grips for his various tools to make it a little easier on him.

Poor guy! I teared up reading this – perhaps sleep deprivation, perhaps because I can imagine how you feel. He reminds me of my 4 year old!

If E loves art, maybe get some playdough or make gak/flubber or use Bingo stampers to create some cool art that can be done with the less-dominant hand? Get books about abstract artists like Jackson Pollock and embrace the less perfect style?

Hoping he recovers quickly! His friends are probably jealous that he gets a cast. They seemed cool when I was a kid!

The cast covers Kristy linked to are awesome. When I was a camp counselor the kids with casts used those in the pool, and their casts never got wet.

As for keeping him entertained, the first thing I thought of was a video I saw as a kid of a paralyzed artist who paints using his mouth to hold the brush. It would probably make a mess, but I bet the novelty of it would excite Everett. I’ll ask my husband for ideas when he gets home from work – he spent a lot of time in spica casts as a kid, so I’m sure he will have some suggestions. I also found this: http://www.livestrong.com/article/526018-physical-activities-for-children-after-a-broken-arm/

Oh my goodness…your son sounds very similar to mine. A broken leg as a toddler, then a compound arm fracture. My son’s arm required a 4 hour surgery and 2 plates, but hopefully we are done with broken bones. I completely know what you mean when you say “I actually like that stuff”, but, I wasn’t prepared to see that dangling arm either. Here’s to a speedy recovery!

My husband said that his parents would get him a new toy, something that he could do by himself that was fun. Granted, his casts were on his legs so his new toys were Lego or Connector sets. He remembers being in an arm sling once, but all he remembers about that is being depressed about missing kid’s camp.

Gentle hugs to little Everett – I hope the recovery time passes quickly – at least in time for Halloween! I’m a retired mother/baby RN and blood, guts (and placenta) never caused me a bit of discomfort unless it was the blood of one of my kids… then my knees would shake and my stomach would turn – I guess it’s just a mother’s instinct. Soon this unfortunate episode will just be another chapter in the long and fascinating book of Everett’s life! Hang in there – it’s a page turner :)

Monkey bars! It is always the monkey bars! (According to my friends who are teachers, and school nurses). My sister broke her arm on the monkey bars when we were kids.

Anyway. Seems like manipulatives that require the gross motor skills would be more enjoyable and feasible for him. Do you have a marble run? I think he could do that with one hand. Once our youngest doesn’t put everything in his mouth, I would like to get one for my bigger kids (3 and 5).

My 6 yr old wild man broke his leg about a yr ago trying to do a back flip off a scooter….so yeah, I hear ya! This post totally brings it all back- the heart break at seeing your baby in pain, the gratitude that’s it’s just a broken bone and will make a fun childhood story later. I remember the first couple of nights he would wake up every hour screaming in pain and there was really nothing that made it much better. But it really is almost super-human how fast they heal! I would put him out front in a comfy chair so he could still “hang out with the other kids” while they were playing. About 2 weeks after he broke it, I looked out to see him RIDING HIS BIKE. With a broken leg. Boys….they’re like a whole different animal :)

Anything happening to one of our kids is always so hard! I’m sorry he broke his arm :(. Our 5 year old had to have brain surgery last year and spent a lot of down time recovering afterwards. Games on the ipad, remote control cars (that he could drive from his bed), playdough, and little army guys helped get him through the pain and boredom. I hope he gets back to his loud and rowdy self soon :).

I hope he heals quickly. I broke both my left wrist and elbow as well as dislocated the elbow a few years ago. I was at a horse show and we were just about to go into my first class when there was a big boom of thunder. 3 of us fell off but as far as I know I’m the only one who was hurt. The emergency room had to put me under twice for reduction because the didn’t get the elbow all the way back into position the first time. Luckily, I didn’t need any surgery for the wrist. The darn thing still gets stiff and aches sometimes. Not looking forward to the arthritis I see in my future. And those thin plastic rulers are great for itching under casts. :)

Rushing to the ER for your kiddo is the worst. Unfortunately, with our two kids we’ve had plenty of experience choosing our best local kids’ ER and then memorizing the fastest route there. Hmm, I am guessing their accident-prone-ness comes from me :(

How about having E pick special outings, focusing on seeing things rather than doing things – zoo, aquarium, ice cream shop (you can totally eat ice cream with a non-dominant hand), baseball game, etc. For those in-house times, go for things like paper airplanes (you have to make them but E can fly them), helping make meals (sprinkling cheese on a homemade pizza only takes one hand), etc.

Good luck! And remember, while all moms are the world’s best mom after a kid injury, how quickly we all resort to our regular frusted mom selves. :)

My right-handed son, now 21 y/o & in a Police Academy, broke his right wrist falling off a balance beam (showing off for a girl!) when he was in 2nd grade. I am an ICU nurse and wanted to barf when I saw his mal-aligned arm – so I can truly empathize. Evan was most concerned about being able to do his homework w/ his arm in a cast. He was at an age when he loved school. We were amazed at his adaptability. His printing was almost as good w/ his non-dominant hand by day #2. Kids are amazing! I wish you & Everitt good luck & speedy healing!
(Another blessing is that this did not occur during the summer.)

What a little trooper! I feel your mommy pain – my 7 year old son fractured his back in April! He was climbing trees while visiting his dad for the weekend, fell out of the tree, and landed on a limb that fractured his L3. He is my middle child – my Jedi-ninja-in-training. He sounds very much like your Everett – literally bouncing off the walls. My son’s back is healed nicely, but for weeks he could only lie on the couch or bed, not bend or move – let alone run, climb, jump, or swim. Thank heavens that neither of their injuries were more serious – but I do feel ya on the mommy guilt and pain. *hugs to you*

Perhaps he would enjoy ‘painting’ with shaving cream or pudding with his right hand. That kind of medium is easy and fun to play with and it doesn’t require exact details. My kids preferred the pudding because they could eat it!

Built a fort in the living room and hang some lights in there for him to read or play with cars.

Crumple up some papers into little balls and have him throw them across the room into a box.

I am so sorry that your family has to deal with this. I’m glad that you have a good attitude about it. Keep up the positive attitude with him. He will be frustrated and needs to be reminded that it is okay to struggle with things right now because things have changed for him. Maybe even hang on to his ‘scribbles’ so that you can pull it out in a week or two to show him how much he has progressed.

You could paint his cast if you are aching for a painting project!

Poor guy :(

It’s going to be really hard keeping him entertained until the swelling/pain go down. My nephew was in the hospital a few years ago after knee surgery, and a surprising hit was jenga. Yes, you can play jenga with it, but you can also build forts and wage block battles :)

My older son had a mystery illness/infections that required him to be hospitalized for weeks starting when he was only 13 months old. He eventually got surgery to drain some lymph nodes in his neck that had become infected when he was 14 months old. To top this all off, I was in my last trimester of my pregnancy with my younger son (they’re only 15 months apart) and my husband had just started a new job that was 45 miles away (which is about an hour and half to two hours away with Chicago rush hour traffic). It was stressful to say the least. Even when he got out of the hospital, we still had to stay home until his immune system recovered – we read lots of books, made forts, built blocks, played cars, and grew bean sprouts in a plastic bag with a damp paper towel. It was tough, my son is a wild man as well. I’m glad everything worked out ok and I’m sending some bone healing thoughts Everett’s way!

Poor poor Everett! Hoping he heals well….

I never knew you visited the OR– my territory! It’s so nice to find others that are into gross healthcare stuff- no one likes my stories! Everyone, even healthcare folks, have that one thing that grosses them out though. Mine is eyes- ugh! Why do we need to stick things in them to fix them?! It’s insane. Unfortunately, thanks to a lack of staff, I became the eye guru. I just don’t look at the field. Shivers!

Everett will be bouncing off the walls soon enough I’m sure. I doubt that cast can contain his energy for long!

What about audio books? They would be easier than trying to manipulate pages.

Hope he recovers quickly. :)

From another lefty in a righty world — encourage Everett to use his right hand. It will be frustrating at first, but I became functionally ambidextrous at an early age, due to tools and a number of other things that were designed mostly with righty’s in mind….

I can’t draw or write right handed, but can use tools, kitchen utensils, and most other things right-handed. In nursing school I could do procedures from either side of the bed, just alternating hands as needed.

Lots of library trips might help too — there are whole worlds to explore in books…..

Hoping for a speedy recovery for both son and mom!

Poor little guy! Praying for a speedy recovery. :(

My oldest broke her arm in the SAME way (and while we were at the ER, another kid came in with the same break – apparently very common)! Seeing her arm bent is something I will never be able to erase from my brain. She is right handed and also broke her right arm. After a few days she was using her left arm as best she could and other than being upset that she couldn’t swim, she found a way to do most of her favorite things. I hope all the check ups and x-rays go smoothly and he can get out of the cast ASAP!

A picture’s worth a thousand words. Bless Everett’s heart. He looks like he is being brave and hanging in there in the picture. He’s a handsome boy! I will pray for his speedy recovery, along with his patience in the situation. May the Lord pour His healing light into Everett’s arm , bones, and fingers. Amen.

Oh man, poor baby! I hope that it heals quickly and that his little sausages shrink so he can get to drawing. I am also mostly a lefty, and when my left was out of commission I forced myself to try with the right…NOT THE SAME.

Poor guy :( hope he has a speedy recovery!

I also felt quite touched reading this post. I struggle quite often about justifying my own feeling of sadness, grief, guilt, and worry regarding my own children versus the intense, overwhelming, and inescapable emotions experienced by parents in more dire situations. That being said I still come back to the validating statement that each emergency is truly is serious and upsetting relative to the state of normalcy that we come to know within the context of our own lives. Depending on where we are in the journey of parenthood each illness or injury can feel very scary and stressful depending upon the experiences that have or have not transpired earlier on in the journey.

So sorry that your family and Everett have had to endure sine very difficult and intense emotions over the past few days. My children have had to go through general anesthesia for moderate dental procedures and just the process of “going under” is enough to get my pulse racing and my emotions in an uproar. Be well and may you find all the strength, insight, and creativity you need to make to the next phase of healing. Xo

Poor Everett! Hopefully he heals fast. My son broke his leg when he was 10 months old when his babysitter tripped and fell on him. He was only in a cast for 2 weeks because his chubby little leg kept squeezing out (resulting in three expensive trips to the ER)

There’s always someone worse off than you and it’s ok to still be upset t the situation. Let go of the mommy guilt :)

Good luck!

Poor Everett, hugs from Australia! No useful tips I’m afraid as we haven’t been there yet (although I’m certain we will with our No.2). Do you have an iPad? There are some cool colouring apps that only require a finger tip, no grip : my kids’ favourite is Doodle Buddy. You can save and/or print out your creations. Not to mention Pizza Maker & Cupcake Maker. The sausage fingers will go down soon, so he may well be able to colour in a few days’ time. Good luck…

He sounds like a dedicated artist.. Finger painting?!! Maybe glue and something shiny, small, fuzzy??… It would be easier than trying to hold a pencil and be precise! I wish him a speedy recovery! You sound like the best mom.. I love reading your story

Im so sorry Dana. Isnt it crazy how quickly mommy guilt creeps in. Wishing Everett a speedy recovery. You’re right though, kids are super resilient and he will be bouncing off the walls again in no time.

When I was 8 I broke my right hand (I am VERY right-handed), so I know how he feels! No writing, drawing, making friendship bracelets, monkey bars, bike riding, etc :( It’s hard for little kids to take it easy and heal. One thing I could do left handed that I loved was paint with a long brush on a easel, and (a little later in the healing process) color. I remember I got a book of crazy geometric mosaics to color in, it felt very cool, and adult to 8 year old me. I also read, a lot. Does he have a special maybe not-so-serious book series he likes (comic books even?). This might be a good time to enjoy them a bit more.

I hope he feels better! My kids love books on CD from the library. They also adore listening to Maynard Moose Tales by Willy Claflin. He’s an incredible story teller that sends the kids into giggles. Good luck!

Oh, I’m so sorry. I hope your little guy is feeling better soon. It’s so easy for that mommy-guilt to creep up without cause. For what’s it’s worth, I think you’re a great mom.

I know what you mean about how hard it is seeing your little ones in pain. I think what has hit me the hardest was seeing my little (then 1 year old) in a oxygen mask being moved via ambulance to the children’s hospital for croup. So hard to see something that we usually take for granted, like breathing, so hard for them to do. She was only in the hospital overnight, but it gave me a little taste of what it might be like for people who have to do this everyday.

Oh, Dana, I am so happy that your son is on the mend. I can only imagine the horror in those first few moments of seeing your child injured. Here’s to a quick recovery back to ‘bouncing ball’.

I must say. Every post that write as of late makes me really appreciate you and your blog more and more. You echo so many of my feelings about family and home.

I totally understand EXACTLY what you’re going through. My 7 year old son broke his arm in the same place and had the same dangling arm. That image is forever burned into my brain. The reduction was awful and waiting for him to wake up seemed to take an eternity. My son is back in full action and I’m sure Everett will be soon too!!! Hang in there!!

Sorry to hear about your little man. I know that is so hard. My daughter got attacked by a neighbors dog last summer. She was two years old. I didn’t see it and the thought of me not being right there and thinking the damage that could have happened haunted me. Her arm was bent like a rainbow with puncture marks. We took her to the er and they sent her to a childrens hospital by ambulance that night and she had surgery when we arrived. The puncture marks were getting air caught under the bone and causing infection. I couldn’t believe it had happened. She was in a hot pink cast for a couple of months. But it didn’t slow that wild little gal down at all. And she isn’t the least bit afraid of any dog to this day! She still loves them all and wants to hug every single one she sees. I on the other hand, cringe at a stray dog I see running around my house! Hope your sweet boy gets back to his old self soon!

poor baby. just reading this brought tears to my eyes. i sure hope he feels better quickly!

I completely relate to your feelings of gratitude and guilt. I think the silver lining of events like Everett’s broken arm is that it reminds us of what is most important in our lives. One suggestion for keeping Everett entertained while he is healing: plan and execute a halloween costume? It’s getting to be about that time (already), and I think you’ve mentioned that he likes to dress up! Hope he’s feeling better and back to his bouncing soon.

Oh this breaks my heart. I know how you feel — I have hated watching my son in pain before he healed from his injury at 10 months, but I am so grateful I have not had to witness worse yet and pray every day I will handle whatever comes our way with the courage and strength to see it through with my family.

When he was 10 months old, my oldest son was crawling on our queen sized bed while playing with my husband. I was fixing breakfast in the kitchen while my husband was tickling and giggling with our son, who then sped off…. apparently having doubled his crawling speed overnight. He crawled right off the edge before my husband could catch him to stop him, and he fell to the ground, biting through the top of his tongue with his 4 upper teeth (thankfully they did not meet his 4 lower teeth to go all the way through. I had heard that tongues usually heal on their own, but he was bleeding a LOT, and it looked bad, so we rushed to the ER, praising God that rush hour traffic wasn’t stop-and-go that morning, like usual. Since my son had just had a bottle about 20 minutes before the fall, they had to make us wait until 4 hours after his meal to sedate him (let’s talk about how fun that was with a baby boy who screamed for food every 3 hours like clockwork!), thread his tongue, and put in 6 stitches.

To this day, his tongue has a separated ridge in it where it never healed perfectly flat to close the seam, and it breaks my heart every day that I see it when he is playing and laughing or brushing his teeth.

Thankfully my son was playful as normal later that afternoon, though we did have to limit his food to liquids for a few days, and then re-introduce purees before soft solids (he had progressed to table food before this). After his first post-sedation meal, you’d never know he was hurt with his happy demeanor, which helped us heal too.

I pray so many times to never have to watch my kids get painful procedures done (here’s hoping they don’t inherit their daddy’s cavity-prone teeth, even!) but mostly for the strength to stand by their side, holding their hand, through whatever comes at us all.

Maybe he could learn some new card games or board games? Read comic books? Stamping as art instead of drawing? Fun iPad apps where a finger tip is a color instead of having to grasp physical writing utensils? Good luck keeping him occupied with all his energy until he is able to go full-speed-ahead once more!

It is so hard to watch a young one in pain. With Everett’s activity level, ER visits may be a regular occurrence. My son developed Type I diabetes at age 7; I remember feeling like I was going to throw up when we were shown how to inject insulin, I couldn’t stand the thought of causing him any pain. We made a point of having him do everything other kids did; he went to overnight camp, played soccer (and baseball and basketball and football and ran track and did pole vaulting), now boxes and lifts weights, as well as skydiving, skiing, motorcycling, and whole bunch of other stuff I probably don’t want to know about. Some kids are adrenaline junkies and love action and movement; you just have to find outlets and pick up the pieces when they are done. You will get through this.

Poor little guy! I broke my arm when I was 5 and started school with a cast. My grand daughter had surgery for 10 hours yesterday, she is two months old. She was born with OEIS complex. It was an awful day but, she is stable. It was the first of many surgeries to come. We are just so thankful that we have her! Take care of your sweet little man!

Poor baby! I know you are tearing yourself up inside, but this kind of stuff just happens when raising kids. My daughter decided to try and “fly” like Tinkerbell and hurled herself off the swing and I WAS SITTING RIGHT THERE! And yes, we ended up in the ER, surgery and a pin in her arm. So, spoil him rotten. My daughter looks back on pictures of her with a cast and doesn’t remember the pain or being scared…she remembers being able to have ice cream and popsicles whenever she wanted.

This exact thing happened to my six year old this summer! Fractured arm in 2 places from the monkey bars. Middle of the summer?! no biking, no swimming, no fun!!! Hang in there little one – here’s to a speedy recovery!!

Sneak him extra treats when no one is looking – will make him feel extra special!! ;)

And, yes, moments like this remind those of us who have “healthy” children that we are all too lucky & we must relish that gift every single day.

My daughter broke her arm 3 different times (roller blading, biking through the woods, gymnastics class that required surgery) and then did it again with a hairline fracture which required a cast, so that made four. Kids are quick to adapt. She managed in school with her other arm, she learned how to take baths without getting the cast wet, she found other ways to have fun. As parents, we keep them safe as best we can, but we can’t prevent everything, nor would we want to. That’s how they learn. This experience will give him unique gifts – like seeing the love and special care expressed from his family; the kindness and support of his friends at school when he needs help carrying something or writing something down; the opportunity to see that he’s NOT invincible which is something you really hope they know before they get to be teenagers; creativity to find new ways to do things and the feeling of pride when they do. And then, of course, there’s nothing like getting everyone to sign your cast! Hoping he has a speedy recovery!

One of my boys broke his arm on the monkey bars too. An FYI from my experience, his cast was waterproof!! It was done at Akron Children’s Hospital and they said that they’d had waterproof casts for many years (I think 16??). May be too late, but was a life saver for us. Good luck!

Our son had the exact same breaks a couple of summers ago. Cause? Racing ME in the park. Total mom guilt. Then he rebroke the bones a few weeks after the first cast was removed. I’ve heard that is not super common but it made for one long summer in a hot cast and waterproof covers! The cover is totally worth it!!