Arm Fracture

Helen and her friends regularly turn our kitchen into a roller skating rink. It's a large space covered with linoleum, so other than the hazard of various counter tops, it's a good space for this. On Saturday nights, a local community center turns their gym into a roller skating rink - and Helen loves it.

A few weeks ago, we took one of her friends with us to check it out - and within minutes of arriving, Helen crashed and ended up with a slight fracture in her wrist. She doesn't tend to complain about pain when it's real, and she had been lamenting the fact that ALL OF HER FRIENDS have been in a hospital - and she was even born in one. After the fall, she skated for another 45 minutes and then it was time to head home. I slapped a wrist brace on her that I had from years ago and Ed and I headed over to a neighbor's house to play bridge.

Helen said once the brace was on she felt fine - and indeed, when we went to the ER the next day they were unable to see a break on the x-ray, so they told me to keep it in a brace until we could see an orthopedic specialist. She said the ER's braces were larger than the one Helen was already in - making this possibly the only time in my life when my freakishly small wrists have been useful.

Ed took Helen to the orthopedist who had treated Connor. Given how severe and traumatic his break was - and yes, I still wake up in a sweat over it - this was extremely easy to deal with. Treatment would be the same whether there was an actual break or just some deep tissue damage, so the orthopedist did not take an additional x-ray (the ER PA had told us that the the orthopedist might take another x-ray, looking for bone growth which would reveal where the fracture was).

After consulting with Ed and Helen, the orthopedist recommended keeping the arm in a brace, gave permission to Helen to all her friends that she broke her wrist, and sent her on her way.

After a few weeks with the brace, Helen tends to find it annoying, which I think is a good sign that she's close to healed. She was cleared for soccer and has been playing a bit of violin - but gymnastics and softball pitching remain no-gos.

I am, of course, grateful that this injury was relatively minor compared to Connor's injury at about the same age. Now...to sort out the medical bills and determine which ones we pay and which ones insurance pays.

Elaine

Recharging: Whole Milk Smoothies

Typically when we ski locally, our strategy is to ski hard in the morning and then head home. But a few weekends ago, Ed took the kids on an overnight weekend adventure. I stayed home to join the Women's March (more later), and joined them late.

By the time I arrived, they'd already put in two full days, and they had not taken it easy on themselves. Which meant in the morning - they needed calories! So they slurped down some Stonyfield Whole Milk Smoothies and fruit.
 

The verdict? Delicious. And the fate of those caps? They've been turned into wheels for an Odyssey of the Mind vehicle,  which I will reveal in a few weeks when my team publicly reveals their solution to this year's seemingly impossible problem!

Elaine

Stonyfield sent me strawberry and peach whole milk yogurt smoothies. And even though my kids usually balk at non-strawberry items, they were not offended at all by the peach smoothies and sucked them right down. Thank you, Stonyfield!

Newsies! Coming to Arlington - WIN TICKETS!

I am, admittedly, a late comer to the Hamilton craze. In fact, it wasn't until last Fall when I ran the Marine Corps Marathon that I finally listened to the whole musical. (I had time, might as well use it!) And downloading it to my phone is likely what got Helen interested, and now she sings the show from opening to closing and has listened to it enough times to make me crazy. (I used to do this to my sister, so, ahem, I'm not complaining.) With Hamilton on the way to DC next year, I am struggling with whether or not to purchase tickets for us. Pricetag = OUCH!

But...there's another, more accessible musical coming to the theater a few blocks from my home - Disney's Newsies. I don't even think I need to go into a natural political commentary on the importance of news - in reliable sources, something the Newsies of the day were trying to deliver. 

You can purchase tickets to the filmed version of Newsies by clicking here. (You can enter zip code info to find your closest theater.) Or - see below to win free tickets.

Set in New York City at the turn of the century and based on a true story, Newsies is the rousing tale of Jack Kelly, a charismatic newsboy and leader of a ragged band of teenaged ‘newsies,’ who dreams only of a better life far from the hardship of the streets. But when publishing titans Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst raise distribution prices at the newsboys’ expense, Jack finds a cause to fight for and rallies newsies from across the city to strike and take a stand for what’s right.

I'm giving away four tickets to see Newsies at the Regal Ballston Common Stadium 12 on Saturday, February 18 at 12:55 PM. For those who haven't been, Ballston is now a reserved seating, very fancy theater (according to my kids).

Click on the form below for a chance to win tickets. Contest ends at 11:00 AM on February 16. After that, the winner will be contacted with information on how to pick up the free tickets.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Filmed live on stage at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, CA, this not-to-be-missed high energy show stars Original Broadway cast members Jeremy Jordan as “Jack Kelly,” Kara Lindsay as “Katherine,” Ben Fankhauser as “Davey” and Andrew Keenan-Bolger as “Crutchie”. They’re joined by North American Tour stars Steve Blanchard as “Joseph Pulitzer,” and Aisha de Haas as “Medda Larkin,” and Ethan Steiner as “Les” along with members of both the Broadway and North American Tour ensembles, filling the stage with more “newsies” and more dancing than ever before.

Steamboat, 2017

As far as I can tell, children always say they hate ski school. They will say they hate ski school, even if they are laughing when parents pick them up. They will persist with their stories of hating ski school, even as they tell you about the cool trails they went on, the other children in their class, and the extra Gatorade they inhaled at lunch. They hate it, I suspect, because they can't stand the idea of their parents spending the day away from them on vacation.

Parents, of course, must love ski school. Why? Because it costs and arm and a leg. The hope, of course, is that the children will eventually learn to ski well enough that the whole family can ski together, enjoying the same trails. In the interim, parents get to enjoy skiing wherever they want, without worrying about a child falling, getting stuck somewhere, or having to stop and go inside every thirty minutes.

We've had somewhat of a compromise with Connor and Helen for a few years. When we're someplace local, we ski all day with them. The mountains aren't that great and it is fun to watch them become more confident skiers. But when we got out West, we sentence them to at least a few days of ski school.

This year, Ed purchased two days of ski school for each child. Connor and Helen, naturally, complained about their fate. But, the smile on Connor's face after day one is one I hope I remember for a while. He was grinning ear to ear as he announced that he had graduated from level 5 to level 6 - and his teacher confirmed that the whole class was moving up together the next day - and in fact, they'd been on level 6 skills after a couple of hours in the morning.

For the uninitiated - level 6 is the real deal. Black diamonds, trees, moguls - no more dancing around the mountain, just solid skiing. He was actually excited to go back the second day, because I think he senses he is on the edge of freedom from ski school forever.

Helen had, naturally, befriended everyone in her class and was very excited to return on day 2 because one girl in particular was planning to be there. After that, she wasn't too keen on going back because her friend wouldn't be there. Helen made it about halfway through level 5, which means she has skills, but lacks some confidence in execution. Also, unlike Connor who thinks he must go down the mountain the hardest way possible every time, Helen still enjoys cruising down an easy trail.

In the end, two days of school it was.

And what did we get in return?

We got two children who can get down pretty much anything, love taunting me as they ski through trees, and one child (Connor) who looks for the bumps just to show he can do them. But don't worry, even as they threaten to eclipse me on the mountain, I'm still willing to race them occasionally just to show them you gotta be fast to keep up with this old lady!