Round 2 (and this time he got it right)

It's not even been 4 months since our last visit to the doctor for a foot x-ray for what turned out to be a false alarm, but Joseph and I found ourselves there again today for the same purpose.  This time was not a false alarm.  His turn for redemption, I suppose.

Yesterday he kicked the door frame to his bedroom as he was heading in to get ready for a trip to the temple with the Teacher's Quorum.  He managed to hit it hard enough that he has a small crack on the large (most proximal) phalange of the middle toe of his right foot.  There's nothing to be done but let it heal.  He'll keep it taped for a while and maybe try crutches for a couple of days to relieve the pain.  It's the worst of both worlds- the pain and annoyance of a broken bone but no cool cast or brace for sympathy purposes.  Oh, the trials we are called on to pass through!

Very Limited Time Offer

Ok, time to talk about another child.  Today it's Steven.

 Steven is currently working on several merit badges for Scouts- this afternoon it was the Communications merit badge.  Requirement 7 has 3 options.  One is to start a blog.  He decided that would be a better option than designing a newsletter for an organization or writing a letter to the editor of  a magazine or newspaper.  I'd probably agree.  He going to write about his experiences with his month-long fencing trial.  The merit badge only requires 3 postings.  The first was posted today at fencersteven.blogspot.com.  One down, only 2 to go.  They may become collectors items as there's a real possibility there will only be three.  Better hurry and check it out before it's old news! 

Licensed to Drive

It's been a big month for Spencer- contacts and now a driver's license.  (Yes, it was snowing that afternoon.)

This is my second child to obtain a license.  The third will get his permit in 2 months.  It's hard getting into a car with a newly permitted teen.  It's almost harder letting them drive without me.  Does it ever get any easier to wave goodbye as they head out on their own?  I never thought this right of passage would be such a mixed bag.  I dream for years of them being able to get themselves every where and when it happens I'm on pins and needles until they're home.  What a crazy mom I am some times.

Congrats, Spence! 

(Cant' you just frame the license and hang it on your wall.  It will look great there!)

Free at Last! (well, almost)

Day One of new contacts.  So far they don't bother his eyes at all.  Only a couple of days to get his eyes used to longer and longer wearing and the glasses can stay on the shelf.  This is one happy young man.

Routines and Being Educated by a Bag of Cheese

Our family loves cheese- and not just because it's in a three-way tie for Ryan's favorite word ("banana" and "stuff" being the other lucky winners).  We eat more of it than is probably good for us.  As such, I buy shredded cheese in big 5 pound bags at Sam's Club.  We eat it more sparingly if I buy smaller bags, but the price is better in big bags.  To get the best of both worlds I buy the big bag, cut open the top, and then divide it into smaller bags which are stored in the freezer until we need/want them.

 It's usually a process that creates quite a mess on my counter because there just isn't a real great way of getting a handful of finely shredded cheddar from one bag to another without dropping some on the counter.  I've done it this way for years and never gave it much thought.

Forward to today.  I cut open the top of the bag and it split down the seam that runs the entire length of the bag.  At first I was irritated.  Then I realized my life was just simplified for years to come.  Do you realize that with the bag split open like that I can fill a baggie right over the open bag?  Any cheese that drops falls right back into the pile of cheese ready to be part of the next handful.  I don't even want to mention how many years it took me to realize this and I didn't even do it on my own.  I really need to get my life out of it's rut more often.

 Makes me wonder just how much of every day is wasted because I do things the way I've always done them.
(Oh, and I'm feeling incredibly brilliant right about now.)

Not Quite the Horrible Parent I Thought I Was

Joseph and I had a little visit with the orthopedic doctor today.  Turns out he most likely does NOT have a broken foot (parental redemption!) but a strain of some sort on either the tendons that attach to the 5th meta-tarsal or the growth plate at the end of the bone.  He even took an x-ray of his other foot to prove he has the same "break" in both feet.  He recommended a set of shoe inserts and gave Joseph some pointers on ways to change his gait when he runs.  Joseph tends to run on the front of his foot and toes more than he should and that puts strain on those insertion points.  He should see improvement soon.  If not, we go back in three weeks.

So glad it's not broken and the treatment only involved a trip to an orthopedic supply place this afternoon.  That is a much better option, in my opinion, than surgery or a brace for several weeks, or whatever else.  Joseph is still not completely convinced that the doctor isn't scamming us, but does agree that the inserts feel "squishy" and better on his feet.  They also make him a little taller.  That alone makes the day worthwhile.

Amazing Parenting 101- Step by Step Instructions

Step 1:

When your child complains of a sore foot, tell him to give it some time because he probably just strained it participating in PE that day.

Step 2:

Figure it must have gotten better since he doesn't ever complain about it again- just mentions it in passing.

Step 3:

When he brings it up again in the middle of soccer season 2 YEARS later, tell him it's probably just from soccer and see how it feels when the season is over.

Step 4:

Ten days after the season ends, finally take him in to the doctor.

Step 5:

Bask in your amazingness as you tell the doctor and the nurse and the x-ray technician- out loud and to their faces- that your son has had a sore foot for 2 YEARS (even though he hadn't really complained about it and played soccer two more seasons, and had 2 rounds of PE, and all that other stuff and seemed to be fine.)

Step 6:

Be totally impressed with your son when the x-ray appears to show he's had a broken foot for 2 YEARS and he's not really complained about it and played soccer two more seasons, and had 2 rounds of PE, and all that other stuff and seemed to be fine.

Step 7:

Be somewhat concerned that even though it appears to just be an avulsion fracture it still hasn't healed in 2 YEARS and agree that a referral to an orthopedic surgeon is probably warranted.

Step 8:
 
Agree to not make said son do the mile run in PE on Tuesday, but stand firm in demanding that chores be completed.  After all, he's not really complained about it and played soccer two more seasons, and had 2 rounds of PE, and all that other stuff and seemed to be fine for 2 YEARS.  I think a couple more days of vacuuming the living room before seeing the orthopedic surgeon isn't going to make matters all that much worse.  (But go ahead and buy him a cookies and cream candy bar.  You don't have to be totally heartless.)

Sorry Joseph.  I've said it before and I'll say it again- It's amazing, sometimes, that humans live to adulthood.

 There's probably some way to mark this, but I don't know what it is.  The fracture is the edge of the bump on the right.  The doctor circled it with a pen, so it looks like a dark line of shadow surrounded by a hairline fracture.  The hairline fracture is just ball point pen.