November 20 - Pet Peeve Monday - Thanksgiving Break?

This week’s PET PEEVE MONDAY is about The Children. Specifically about how fragile they are. No, not in a mental sense and how we need to coddle them and love them and support them.

They are fragile in a physical sense. Broken bones, hematomas, and ER trips to be exact.

In 2005, every one of my four children went to the ER. Three had broken bones and the fourth required stitches.

We had made it through 10 months of 2006 without a single trip to the ER. Since November 1, we have made 3 trips to the ER.

One visit was inconclusive. We rubbed dirt on it and he walked it off.

The second visit resulted in a broken clavicle for Sophia. I blogged about Sophia on November 7.

In between the second and third visits, Jack suffered an injury to the bridge of his nose that still hasn’t healed. He was pushed while getting on the bus and landed face first on the bus steps. We are holding off on the ER for him as he already has two broken arms on his record. We are concerned about a possible three strikes penalty with Child Protection Services. (Joking)

The third ER visit for the month was immediately following the below photo of Skye roller-skating at a Girl Scouts’ outing on Monday night.

She broke her left arm. As she recounted, this will be her second consecutive Thanksgiving in a cast. She had broken three bones in her foot last November. Oh, those priceless childhood memories.

I must blame most of this on my wife’s genes. I never broke anything but a few windows and promises.

Whitney Houston once said. “The Children are our Future. Treat them well and let them lead the way.” However she also said, “I Do” to Bobby Brown in between trips to rehab. So I’m not sure what to believe.

I have officially canceled the annual Thanksgiving Pumpkin Toss, as my insurance carrier no longer covers it.

I have ordered three over-sized bubbles for my three youngest children to live in for the remainder of 2006 and the near future.

So my PET PEEVE is why can’t they make children as strong as they were when we were kids when we walked through the snow, up hill, both ways to school.

If Children are indeed our future, they should come with a warranty or at least labels like “Fragile, Handle with Care.”