8.31.2010
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1.20.2010
Learning lessons the hard way
Well, it has been over a week since "the incident", but I now feel I can write about it. Before I go into it, I will give you the lesson I learned. "Wear a Helmet When You Go Sledding!" Not totally fitness related, but a health matter, nonetheless.
So, this was the situation. We got our 2 1/2 yr. old, Elsa, all bundled up for a fun sledding adventure at a local golf course... the same hill I used to sled on growing up. We received the wonderful gift of an old school wooden red flyer sled. Elsa just loves it. She sits in the back, holds onto the rope, and says "wheeeee!" all the way down the hill. Just adorable.
Well, we had done about 5 runs when it happened. Brett was at the top of the hill, and I was at the bottom waiting for her. Brett gives her a little push, and she starts down the hill. I immediately recognize that the sled is going off course..it pulls to the right and seems to line up perfectly with a tree that is half way down the hill.
I watched in horror as Elsa's sled, at full speed, SLAMS directly into the tree. I watched her little rag doll body fly out of the sled and hit the tree. She fell to the ground and started screaming. I was running up the hill expecting to see a horror show of blood, missing teeth and a cracked scull.
Miraculously, she seemed relatively ok. She had definitely hit her head, as there was a big scrape and a goose egg forming. But, that seemed to be the extent of it. However, with recent tragedies, such as Natasha Richardson, your mind goes to a dark place imagining all that could still go wrong. The doctor told me what to watch out for(fatigue, vomiting, headaches, and other things that let you know a toddler is not well). But, as the days passed, and Elsa showed no signs of any head trauma, I was able to loosen up a little and not continuously replay that horrible image over and over in my brain. But of course, every time she seems to spew out random words that don't make any sense, I have to remind myself that it is probably b/c she is 2 1/2, and NOT b/c of the sledding accident:)
So, once again, as stated by my Doctor..'Make sure the kids wear helmets when sledding-it is just as dangerous as skiing!'
And just for the record, next snow fall, we are definitely going again...it really is fun!
Happy winter!
-J
So, this was the situation. We got our 2 1/2 yr. old, Elsa, all bundled up for a fun sledding adventure at a local golf course... the same hill I used to sled on growing up. We received the wonderful gift of an old school wooden red flyer sled. Elsa just loves it. She sits in the back, holds onto the rope, and says "wheeeee!" all the way down the hill. Just adorable.
Well, we had done about 5 runs when it happened. Brett was at the top of the hill, and I was at the bottom waiting for her. Brett gives her a little push, and she starts down the hill. I immediately recognize that the sled is going off course..it pulls to the right and seems to line up perfectly with a tree that is half way down the hill.
I watched in horror as Elsa's sled, at full speed, SLAMS directly into the tree. I watched her little rag doll body fly out of the sled and hit the tree. She fell to the ground and started screaming. I was running up the hill expecting to see a horror show of blood, missing teeth and a cracked scull.
Miraculously, she seemed relatively ok. She had definitely hit her head, as there was a big scrape and a goose egg forming. But, that seemed to be the extent of it. However, with recent tragedies, such as Natasha Richardson, your mind goes to a dark place imagining all that could still go wrong. The doctor told me what to watch out for(fatigue, vomiting, headaches, and other things that let you know a toddler is not well). But, as the days passed, and Elsa showed no signs of any head trauma, I was able to loosen up a little and not continuously replay that horrible image over and over in my brain. But of course, every time she seems to spew out random words that don't make any sense, I have to remind myself that it is probably b/c she is 2 1/2, and NOT b/c of the sledding accident:)
So, once again, as stated by my Doctor..'Make sure the kids wear helmets when sledding-it is just as dangerous as skiing!'
And just for the record, next snow fall, we are definitely going again...it really is fun!
Happy winter!
-J
