Climbing with a Boot

My 4 year old C has had a fractured foot for about a month now. He has been in a boot for the last three weeks and has been back at daycare for the past two weeks. It was an adjustment for him to be in the boot most of the day because he didn’t feel like himself, but once he was back in the rhythm of things, it’s like he is back to being C again.

It helped that his friends welcomed him back and missed him so much. Most of the girls in his class were extra helpful and offered to carry him around if needed or grabbed things for him because it was hard for him to get around at first. Some of the boys were helpful too, but I was told they mainly wanted to just play with C.

On his first day back, I remember telling him not to climb in anything so he doesn’t risk falling off and hurting something else. Injuries have a tendency to snowball at times and I was extra paranoid as a parent. C said he wouldn’t climb in anything and would be extra careful climbing up and down the stairs. That very same day, the teacher sent us a picture of C halfway hanging off a spinning wheel the kids love to play on. You really can’t stop kids from doing what they want!

Over the course of this month, I have learned to let go a bit and just let C be himself. It’s hard to not worry about him running too fast or jumping off of small things with his boot, but I’m just hoping for the best. I do see him being calmer and not sprinting like crazy when he is outside. He is also using his tricycle instead of his balance bike to get around the neighborhood and uses one leg to scoot him around. In fact, the other day, we let C go a bit crazy in at a birthday party where there was a little gym to get everyone’s energy out. Learning to let go as a parent is very difficult for some people (like myself), but slowly I am learning to do just that so my kids can be themselves even if they might have to learn some lessons the hard way.