Tuesday, June 4, 2013
A Sprained Ankle as Vector for the Plague
Clara sprained her ankle the other day. She was running down the cow path (or the Bovine Trail, as Kim fancily refers to it) and fell. It seemed somewhat serious, so Bridges carried her all the way home, and Lynne (our local retired pediatrician) checked it out. Just a sprain, but we had to be cautious in case of a fracture on the growth plate, and we should keep her off it the rest of the day. Yeah, right.
It happened to be the day of Patricia's memorial service, which was followed by a big picnic at the neighborhood. Lots of kids running around, and no chance of keeping Clara off that ankle. Of course, when she was happily running on it several hours later we just assumed she was fine and let it go.
But Lee, whom we've often called Calamity Jane because of her propensity to flock to even the most minor disaster and blow it all out of proportion, couldn't give up on the idea of the sprained ankle. She kept chastising Clara, telling her not to walk on it. By the next morning, Clara had gotten pretty fed up with this, and ran to us, screaming "Lee says I shouldn't walk on my ankle because I'm going to grow funny or get the plague!"
We just laughed.
It happened to be the day of Patricia's memorial service, which was followed by a big picnic at the neighborhood. Lots of kids running around, and no chance of keeping Clara off that ankle. Of course, when she was happily running on it several hours later we just assumed she was fine and let it go.
But Lee, whom we've often called Calamity Jane because of her propensity to flock to even the most minor disaster and blow it all out of proportion, couldn't give up on the idea of the sprained ankle. She kept chastising Clara, telling her not to walk on it. By the next morning, Clara had gotten pretty fed up with this, and ran to us, screaming "Lee says I shouldn't walk on my ankle because I'm going to grow funny or get the plague!"
We just laughed.
The Timex - Good or Bad?
Lee has been, let's say, just a wee bit obsessed with time the last few months. This seems to correspond with some anxiety related to being late.
We decided to buy her a Timex digital watch for her birthday. I thought that at least she would stop asking me what time it was every few minutes. Well, that part of it worked. Only she then proceeded to report the time and duration of every inconsequential event throughout the day. About halfway through her birthday I said "I'm not sure this watch was a good idea, Lee. You're driving me crazy!"
Generally, though, it seems comforting to her. She wears it constantly, and I'm happy to have her around because it's almost as good as wearing a watch myself (since I rarely keep to my vow of carrying my new iPhone with me at all times).
I was joking with Clive (whose mother Pamela, suffering from dementia, is obsessed with time) that we could just put her and Lee in a room together and they'd be perfectly content. Pamela could ask Lee every two minutes all day long what time it is, and Lee could tell her to the nearest second.
We decided to buy her a Timex digital watch for her birthday. I thought that at least she would stop asking me what time it was every few minutes. Well, that part of it worked. Only she then proceeded to report the time and duration of every inconsequential event throughout the day. About halfway through her birthday I said "I'm not sure this watch was a good idea, Lee. You're driving me crazy!"
Generally, though, it seems comforting to her. She wears it constantly, and I'm happy to have her around because it's almost as good as wearing a watch myself (since I rarely keep to my vow of carrying my new iPhone with me at all times).
I was joking with Clive (whose mother Pamela, suffering from dementia, is obsessed with time) that we could just put her and Lee in a room together and they'd be perfectly content. Pamela could ask Lee every two minutes all day long what time it is, and Lee could tell her to the nearest second.
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