Michael's Arm Injury

When my kids get hurt, I swear it hurts me twice as bad as them. I feel bad that I can't help them feel better and sometimes feel guilty that I didn't catch them before they fell or told them that standing on a wobbly board wasn't a good idea. As a parent, I work hard to keep my kids safe but sometimes- no matter how hard I try, they get hurt.

We had had a busy week full of commitments for school while being in the midst of construction and birthday planning. I was so relieved when one of Michael's friends asked him over for a play date. That meant one less carpool pick up time and a more unstructured day. Play dates are very common in Michael's Kindergarten class. We have kids over all the time and Michael is invited to houses frequently, too. I picked up Michael at his friends house late in the afternoon. They were having a ball and playing a tennis game on his friend's Nintendo Wii game station. I chatted with the Mom for a long time as she is a good friend of mine but had difficulty prying Michael away from the game to go home. After about a half hour of Michael ignoring my attempts to leave, the Mom went over and turned off the game. Naturally, both of the boys were mad, but they quickly recovered and we said goodbye.

When I picked Michael up the following afternoon from school, he complained to me about arm pain. "Did you fall at school?" "Did you do anything weird to your arm during P.E. or recess?" "Did you sleep on it weird?" Michael answered no to all of these questions but was really complaining of pain. I grabbed one of Matthew's blankets and then made a sling out of it to give his poor little arm a rest. I was bothered by the mysterious nature of this injury. Of course the fact that I couldn't figure out what was wrong with his arm brought out the inner freak in me. My mind started thinking of these horrible things that could be wrong with him. Maybe there was something wrong with the bone or maybe this was the first sign to a horrible disease. As Moms, we all possess the ability to go to the Crazy Place. Sometimes the sleep deprivation/stress just gets to me and it is hard to shake the horrible thoughts that go through my mind. Whatever the case, I needed to clear my head. I made the kids lunch, put Matthew down for a nap and then grabbed my twice reheated cup of coffee and sat on the couch. What could be wrong with Michael's arm? I went over all he had done that week. All the activities, all the possible times he could've fallen or done something weird.

And then it donned on me. I knew how he had hurt his arm. The thoughts of bone disease and fractures flew out the window and I began to laugh. Michael had hurt his arm playing the Nintendo Wii. That afternoon at this friend's house was the first time he had played this kind of virtual video game. I remembered watching him playing the tennis game and saw how he continually flung his arm out to hit the ball with his game controller. The boys probably played that game for an hour. An hour of jarring his elbow out over and over would certainly cause him some pain or at least some serious soreness. Just as I had gotten up to go tell Damien the funny news, Michael walked in wearing his lavender sling. I tried not to bust up laughing but failed. I then proceeded to tell him why he was hurt. Michael saw the humor in it but he still wanted me to know how much pain he was in. He was also worried that I was going to tell him that he couldn't play that video game anymore. I told him that he could play as long as when his arm started to hurt, he would stop. He agreed but I knew he wasn't telling the truth. Michael has been known to play video games even when his bladder is about to burst or up to the point where he is about to die of thirst. It usually takes me or Damien to say, "Michael- do you need to go to the bathroom or are you just dancing in front of the TV?" Often times when he finishes playing his face is bright red and I know that he needs some water. He doesn't stop to take care of himself on the off chance he might miss something with the game- despite the fact that you can pause most games. Michael and I went to tell Damien the diagnosis of his injury. He thought it was hysterical and we all enjoyed a good laugh over the silliness, yet seriousness nature (according to Michael) of the arm injury.

Over the years, I have heard about and seen a great number of injuries with my children. But I must confess that this was the first injury that I have ever heard of that was caused by a video game. So you are now forewarned of the 'serious' injury that can result from playing a game on the Nintendo Wii. Make sure you stretch before you play and have an ice pack on hand to help you with the soreness.