Broken bones and milestones

Fletcher broke his arm today at the mall. We were playing at the kid's court and he jumped off the giant basketball and hit his arm HARD on the basketball hoop. He broke it in two places! So he now has a bright orange cast for most of the summer. The doctor said it will be off for Disneyland in August, thank goodness. Please say prayers!!!

It was the most painful, sickening feeling I have ever had as a parent. He was standing there, poised at the top. I told him not to jump but I had that teasing, fun look I guess and didn't get up to physically take him off like I knew I should. That basketball is about four feet tall. It's a slide. He wasn't using it the way it was intended to be used. Who in the hell puts a four-foot-tall basketball in the freaking mall anyways?!?! So he jumps and he lands wrong and and he doesn't get up, just has this strange look on his face and the lady next to me says that's a broken arm. Same thing happened to my brother. That's a BAD break.

Of course I leapt to my feet of course I scooped him up and didn't know what to do, all the shopping bags and whatnot falling at my feet. Of course the lady told me to sit down and hold his arm still, was his arm hurt? I was so confused. Why was it flopping around there, his left arm, just flopping? And what is my husband's number at work and what hospital do you want him taken to and is he going into shock? Why isn't he crying and and and.... and it's all sort of a surreal blur. Except I remember the cell phone lady telling me, "Honey, I have two boys. He's four years old - this is when it starts. It's a milestone."

Ambulance time and I'm like, why isn't he more excited to ride an ambulance? But he's quiet, he's just so quiet. Hospital - x-rays, IV's, poked and prodded and still no tears. He is a virtuous saint. He is silent as a lamb and I'm holding it all together, not passing out, not screaming for some fucking pain medication for my son right now, he's only four years old!!! and I'm calm when Matt gets there and calm for the five hours it took to sedate him, set his arm, more x-rays, paperwork and more paperwork and etc.

And when it's over and he's ready to come home he asks the doctor why he cut off his Pirates of the Caribbean shirt? Because that was his favorite shirt and that wasn't very nice. And then he wants a Happy Meal. Just a Happy Meal. We would have given him the WORLD and he asks for a Happy Meal. That is my boy. So that is what he got. and when we got home and he ate and was propped up with a million pillows and I was in the kitchen getting him ice water I started crying and couldn't stop and even Gwen gave me a hug (she's really freaked out) and Matt gave me a hug and then Fletcher yelled, what's mom crying about now? So I stopped and then we played Star Wars. That's my Fletcher, that's my family.

He's really stoned on Tylenol 3 right now and walking around our house like a chicken, clucking. I think that means he'll be okay. He just came up to me and said, "Mom, this was the worst day ever because I broke my arm." And how.