My middle child (you remember him? Willful, loving, Jack) hurt his elbow during goalie training last night. They were practicing diving for the soccer ball (it's your third hand, you love the ball!) and he landed on it, his elbow slamming into hard ground. Nothing broken (I'm not a doctor, but we've had 5 in our house - none Jack's), no heinous swelling or bruising. But Jack was hurting last night. I coaxed him into a warm bath, got him settled on the couch with a fluffy pillow, soft blanket and tv and he fell right to sleep. This morning he was a hornet's nest.
Couldn't move his arm (he said), couldn't do anything, refused to go to summer camp because he was afraid to take the field trip to the in-link skating rink. He was bored, restless, and then got it in his head that he needed to have his arm in a sling.
I tried telling him I don't have a sling. I tried telling him I was working (from home today, mind you) and he needed to relax (read: be quiet!) and keep ice on it.
Nothing worked. Once he got the idea of a sling into his head, nothing else was going to do. "Mom, pulleeeese!" he whined, "it hurts!" Dragging out the words as though stretching the syllables would impress upon me his dire circumstances. It simply stretched that nerve ending to near breaking. You know the one...the LAST SENSITIVE NERVE? Yep. That one.
I heard about it from 8am this morning through 1pm when I had to run out for a doctor's appointment. Then I read about it via text. Gosh, I do love technology.
On the way home, it hit me. I had spent the past 5+ hours listening to this whining, complaining misery. And suddenly an infomercial began playing in my head:
Are you in need of peace? Do you need a few moments of serenity? How long have you had to put up with the whining? Well, folks, have we got just the thing for you!
Peace! Serenity! A temporarily content 11 year-old boy! That's right! All this can be yours for the low, low price of $13.99. Just one payment of $13.99 can buy you a few moments of whinelessness (is that even a word? It is now...)! All you have to do is stop at Walgreens on your way home and purchase that cotton, adjustable sling. $13.99. Operators are standing by...
Now, I normally do not fall victim to these sales pitches, but this was one I absolutely could not argue with. I simply could not refuse. I swerved into that Walgreens parking lot and ran in like I was on fire. And when I got home and presented Jack with the sling...
Well, let's just say I'm writing this in complete silence...
No comments:
Post a Comment