Boy did I have a bad day today. Yesterday, Blake asked me to take him rock climbing for his last day of "official" summer. I had a couple of quick errands to run, so I packed him up and drove him to the rec center along with his swimsuit. I figured he could alternate between climbing and swimming. I usually wouldn't leave him alone there, but they have lifeguards and guys (teenagers really) who run the rock wall, plus they have a full staff at the desk, so I figured he'd be OK for about an hour. That was mistake #1.

By the time I got back, he was sitting in a chair with his foot up, looking like he was in pain. My heart sank. Sure enough, he'd fallen off the rock wall. Turns out they'd been letting him do something called "bouldering". I don't know exactly what it is, but they don't use a safety harness because they're only allowed to go up a little ways. Well, he's not that experienced a climber, so he missed a foothold and fell by about 5 feet. I would have felt bad anyway, but the fact that I wasn't there made me feel even worse. (However, I am going to have a word with those stupid kids at the rock wall for letting an inexperienced climber do something so dangerous!)

He could walk and it wasn't particularly swollen, but he was hobbling and obviously in a bit of pain, so I decided to run him in to the Instacare. Mistake #2. Not so much in taking him to the Instacare, but in picking the one with the stupid doctor who didn't know how to read an X-ray. So we do the X-ray and the dumb-ass doctor reads it and says it's not broken in his opinion, but that he would have the radiologist look at it in the morning. Doesn't show me the X-ray and I didn't think to ask to see it - Mistake #3. At my suggestion, he at least decides to tape it up and says to elevate and ice it for the night. OK fine.

Blake wakes up this morning, says the foot hurts a little, but is basically fine and after all, the doctor says it's not broken. So I remove the tape so he can get his shoe on and send him off to school with instructions to take it easy. At least I drove him rather than letting him walk, so maybe I get a half a point for that.

Then I leave my cell phone in the car - Mistake #4. During the day, the radiologist tries to call me to tell me the foot is broken. In three places. Maybe four. My husband finally gets the message and calls me at 5:00. At this point, my poor child has been walking around on a broken foot for nearly 24 hours and says it's "starting" to hurt. Mistake #5.

Then, I'm so upset, I come home and yell at the poor kid. Huge Mistake #6. I yell at him because I'm going to have to drive him to and from school for all these weeks because our carpool just fell apart. I yell at him because we might have to cancel our vacation this weekend. I yell at him because I have to worry that he will get sand in the cast on the playground. I yell at him because he's going to have to miss the bowling program we've set up. I yell at him because he's likely going to have to miss his Scout campout and Lord only knows what else.

I don't know why I'm yelling at him because he's the one whose going to suffer from all these things, but when I'm upset, I tend to yell and I am so upset at the Instacare doctor, I could just rip his lungs out (the doctors, not Blake's). They sent home a set of the X-rays and even we can see that are probably several breaks. You'd think a guy who stands around an Instacare all day looking at kids with broken bones would be able to read a damn X-ray, or would at least err on the side of caution and send him home with a brace on until someone more competent can read them.

Oh and I'm also feeling a whole lot of guilt because this is his second break (or possibly his second, third, and forth break) because my Mom always told me that I didn't make him drink enough milk. Two years ago he broke his wrist at the skate park, so I'm starting to wonder if this is going to be an on-going occurrence with him because my poor mothering skills have caused him to have paper-thin bones.

So, needless to say, I'm feeling lower than dirt right about now. How was your day? Want to adopt a slightly used, calcium-deficient child with a slight limp? Maybe you'd have better luck with him.

PS: Cross your fingers when we go to the Orthopedist tomorrow. I'm hoping for something of the hairline variety....

PS: In case you're wondering, I did calm down, give Blake a sincere apology and a big hug and took him out for an ice cream. I also promised him a video game if he can manage to keep the sand out of his cast. Fortunately, the breaks were of the hairline variety and he will only have to have the cast on for a month, no crutches, thank heaven!




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