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.

Welcome Fall!

Today started out like summer and is ending like fall.  Shorts and t-shirts to school, sunshine for the walk.  Rain arrived right as the last child got home.  I baked cookies and we had tomato soup, pop corn, and grilled cheese for dinner.  Temp is at 58 and falling.  The windows are open and the smell of rain and chocolate chip cookies is everywhere.  We got the final layer of our new street yesterday.  Greg is on his way home from 100 degrees in Houston.  Perfect start to the weekend!

Post Vacation, or, What happened to all that time that was looming before me just a few weeks ago?

I think I take longer to recover from vacation/being gone than I do to get ready to go.  It's taken 10 days, but the laundry is caught up, the house has been completely cleaned once (not in the last half of the 10 days and really could use it again!), groceries are in the cupboards, and the check book is caught up.  2 sons have left for a week-long camp and returned, the husband has left for his camp out. I spoke in church, got Erica to and from work, and Spencer to and from band, enjoyed visits from several family members, had a birthday, planted carrots for a fall garden, found several geocaches with another son, enjoyed some AMAZING rain storms, attended a sealing and an endowment session with Greg, took the kids to the temple for baptisms, registered the last son for 5th grade, bought most school supplies, helped a friend move (a little), took same friend to the airport, saw HP with most of the family, and slept at least 7 hours most nights since getting home.

I still have a newsletter to write, 6 closets to sort through with their owners, 2 other birthdays to shop for and celebrate, soccer practices to start, school clothes to buy, one child to get moved into a dorm, the schedule of one high schooler to get changed, several days to spend helping my Grandma, and an anniversary to celebrate (if we're every at the same place at the same time again!) all before school starts on the 22nd.

Ahhhh, life!  Someday I'll think about recording things on a blog again.  (Thank heaven for plants!)

Thank You!

A road is the only thing that could trump the washing machine yesterday.  What a great week!  The rest of the summer is looking up- we'll be able to get out of the driveway without dropping off a small cliff to enjoy it!

Happy Sounds

 Know what the best sound of the day today is?  Ok, besides the sounds of pavement being laid on the street outside  (hopefully done in the next few days!)?  It specifically is a sound that has never been heard in this house and generally a sound that hasn't been heard for almost a week.  (That's not a good thing, but it could be much worse.) 

It's the sound of this:

washing this:

 because this:

 had given us everything it had and earned a rest. 

Soon the old one will have a final resting place at the dump.  Until then the camp and garden stuff is keeping it company.  The new one is on it's second of countless washes to come in it's lifetime and at least one more tonight.  Hope it's up to the task because the picture of laundry above is just the stuff that's made it to the laundry room- a mere fraction of the love we're waiting to share. 

It's a good day!

An Open Letter to Greg

Dear Greg-

Thank you so very much, I think, for bringing home that box of heavenly goodness.  Please feel free to do so at any time.  Loretta must be one amazing cook.  I do think it is a good thing that you do not travel to New Orleans very often and that we live on the other side of the country or your wife would seriously weigh 500 pounds.  I think that stuff should be on a DEA, FDA, or ATF hit list because I CANNOT stop eating it.  I hope you got some before you left because there's like a 99.99999998% chance that all you get when you get home is a box with a picture on it.  I don't even want to know how much butter is in it.  Good thing it's the 5th ingredient in a list of 6- right behind sugar, which is at least behind pralines and pecans.  One redeeming quality is that I can pronounce all 6 ingredients.  That means the calories are better for me, right?  I must admit that I'm not totally up on what a praline is, but I'll fix that as soon as I'm done here.  They are yummy, whatever they are.  Thank you so much for thinking of us.  We all appreciate it, but mostly me.  So glad you're home! 

Love,
Shan

pra·line/ˈprāˌlēn/Noun

1. A smooth, sweet substance made by boiling nuts in sugar and grinding the mixture.

2. A crisp or semicrisp candy made by a similar process.

PS-I've decided that I love online dictionaries!
PPS- Maybe it's not such a good thing that pralines are the second ingredient behind praline flavoring.  Looks like listing pralines at the top gives one a distorted view of how much sugar there really is in this box- and I notice there's no nutrition label.  Convenient..  This is definitely a time when ignorance is bliss!