I blame my son.
Art and I have always said our son's many injuries brought up the yearly average of childhood mishaps for all the children who never had any problems.
Jon started out his life by being born in the hospital elevator where Art delivered him all by himself. (Well... I helped.) The most popular jokes at that time was how it explained why Jon has his ups and downs and why was it we didn't name him Otis (elevator company).
Jon had lots of bumps and bruises as a toddler and when he was three, got his chin split open.... to the bone.
At four, he stuck his hand in the stair banister and jumped, breaking his right arm.
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At five, he fell off the school monkey bars and broke his arm in multiple places requiring a second surgery and a massive scar. (We checked later and found that the bars were loose just as he said.)
He's broken toes playing soccer, fallen off his bike (head first, of course), smashed his fingers, got hit by a baseball on his forehead in Little League, scarred his knees during Outward Bound, nearly died of malaria in the Peace Corps... and the list goes on.
I have a lot of friends whose kids never get seriously hurt. Do you think some children are just born accident prone? Is it their karma? I hoped that Jon used up his bad luck and that the rest of his life would be danger free. Sigh...
I remember when Jon was about 6 weeks old. We took him to our wonderful pediatrician who noted that our perfect baby boy had a tiny quarter inch dot where there was no skin pigment on the inside of his thigh.
"Oh no..." I thought. "What can we do for it?" I asked.
"Nothing," said the doctor with a smile.
I worried about that for a few minutes thinking our baby would have this little imperfection.
Little did I know...
From my experience I think that both my boys were born equally adventurous, but one had a better imagination and sense of timing. So the older boy was always getting injured one way and another, but the younger was just as active and impulsive, maybe even more so, but he had a better sense of balance and spacial awareness and seemed to come away with far fewer scrapes.
ReplyDeleteKay, my daughter Jenny has given me my gray hairs!! She has had alot of accidents, some large and some small but she is still here with us! I always threatened her with putting her in a plastic bubble to protect her. She would just giggle and say, "Mom I would still find some way to get hurt". She is probably right!
ReplyDeleteI think he loves to do things differently than others-- i am sure he hated the idea of being born in a boring labor room- elevator is an interesting birth place...heeee !
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is very careful but my son is not and hence gets more cuts and bruises.
How lucky I have been! Out of the four of mine, only one has ever had a broken bone and that was my oldest daughter when she fell out of the top bunk in our Winnebago. I've never had a broken bone either. They were all active, but lucky, I guess. And here I am with the head of white hair!!! Always love your posts and pictures of your family, Kay! Have a great day and try not to worry! OK?
ReplyDeleteSylvia
Your son and mine have a lot in common. He used to get in a lot of scrapes even though I did my best to thwart some of the doctor's visits we took when he was young. I will never dye my hair either. I have earned every one of those blessed things ;) Have a wonderful day.
ReplyDeleteAn English Girl Rambles
Oh my God!!! I can't believe that Jon got into so many painful accidents. But, nothing bad has happened since the Peace Corps and malaria, right? Knock on wood, I pray he will go through the rest of his life accident-free!!!
ReplyDeleteNow look at Jon in that hospital bed. He looks overjoyed to be there (and he was a cute little guy!). Maybe you should have directed him toward the medical field. If he worked in a doctor's office or hospital he wouldn't have to expend so much energy trying to get in!
ReplyDelete(I was a major accident prone child, but outgrew it in my 20s. Here's hoping Jon has done the same.)
how funny, many were my visit to the emergency room with four boys in tow. at least monthly. Now I just hear from it second handedly as one of my sons has two boys who are continuing the family tradition. lol!
ReplyDeleteI take it Jon is a bright, adventuresome person. I like those kind of people. Curious people are great, accidents and all.
ReplyDeleteMy son is the absolute opposite. He is so cautious he couldn't have an accident if he tried, and his little boy is even more cautious. Boooring!
Hi Kay --
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh at Quilly's comment about Jon in the hospital bed. He does look like he has the whole staff awaiting his orders!
I was accident-prone even though I was a "good" kid, and my brother was trouble-prone because he was always clowning around. But the only time my sister got injured, it was because my friend and I were swinging her by her hands and feet and accidentally dropped her.
After I grew up, I kept apologizing to my mother for running into the house, yelling, "Mom, Mom, come quick, we broke the baby!" Imagine what went through Mom's mind when she heard that!
Actually, the "baby" was two years old and delighted in kicking people with the cast on her leg.
Our youngest brother was pretty much an only child with grown-up siblings, so he got through early childhood quite safely, and only began injuring himself when he started martial arts as a teenager.
-- Kay, Alberta
oh I can't believe all those injuries, poor Jon. and is there anything Art can't do? he delivered his own son!
ReplyDeleteI think your Jon has my Jake beat, but not for lack of trying! Between life long soccer, track and field athletics, biking and mountain climbling, he's had his share of breaks and sprains and burises and cuts and scrapes. And yes, I still worry too.
ReplyDeleteOMG! The poor kid had a rough time of it. Bet he had fun, though.
ReplyDeleteYou had me laughing from the ups and downs in the elevator! Your son has had so many things happen to him that is is amazing! God bless you for weathering all of those storms, Kay.
ReplyDeleteYour posts about growing up below are wonderful, Kay!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing yourself with us.
Warm Aloha from Waikiki
Comfort Spiral
I loved your retelling of the story about the small imperfection discovered on your son and how that concerned you as a naive young mother. I can relate!
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry that your son is so easily hurt.
ReplyDeleteYou could let him have ballet lessons or judo. Both sports force him to control every piece of his body, which was great for my children, who did judo.
Wil: I had to laugh at a vision of Jon taking ballet lessons. He is 32 years old now and just finished his career as a fire fighter to go back to school to get a degree in biology. I think he's thinking of something in the medical field. He's not looking to be a doctor, but maybe a radiologist, etc. He's had so much experience with X-rays. :-)
ReplyDeleteKay --
ReplyDeleteI "think" I'm doing blog responses correctly. I don't know how to get my "DrumMajor" to appear in the orange heading if I don't have a blog. I managed it once with Comfort Spiral's blog, then it disappeared.
What an amazing history from your Grandparent's life on Molokai! You should write a book about all of your's and Art's families. If not for others, for all of your family members.
Tell Jon to think about nursing school, either the associate degree or bachelor's. We LOVE "boy nurses," and he'll always have a job. With all of his personal experiences, I bet he could pass the nursing board exam without going to school. Or maybe he should be a stunt man for the new "Hawaii 5-0" series. He started doing "stunts" on Day One!
Mahalo for sharing. DrumMajor
WHO let THAT kid join a fire department? ROFL
ReplyDeleteI've got one too - my youngest daughter, who's always falling and bouncing and bruised up. No hospitalizations yet, thank goodness, but I think it's just a matter of time!
I love these photos -- love how he just smiles through everything. And, I would have named him Otis. I can't imagine you went through that!
Jon looks so cute even with his bandages and casts.
ReplyDeleteMay he be safe and sound from now on.