Dreams Do Come True

Easter is one holiday that I have yet to completely figure out living away from family. We have traveled to Utah some years, had friends over other years, and at times had a quiet day to ourselves.

This year we we invited to a fun Easter egg hunt on Saturday; we read our Easter book throughout the week reflecting on the final days of the Savior's life, and had our traditional treasure hunt for baskets Easter morning. Tired and with a headache the night before I totally punted on making a nice Easter breakfast and instead bought a box of cereal for each of the girls' baskets. Since cereal is a rarity at our house, and since they did not get any candy in their eggs this year, just bunny crackers and money for our upcoming vacation, they thought the cereal was an AWESOME treat.

But after donning our new dresses and attending church, I had no more plans for the family. We were going to have naan and quinoa and chicken and hummus for dinner and dye eggs, but until then, the day was directionless.

Mia was, as usual, unhappy with me for not planning more of a party or inviting guests over -- she is so very social and wants me to have dinner guests every Sunday and constant fun activities planned, which can at times be hard for her introverted mother who really loves quiet days to myself, with fun group activities in moderation.

Anyway, she was disappointed and spent a good chunk of the afternoon pouting. So, when her friend Sarah knocked on the door and invited the girls to play in the yard for awhile, it saved me another hour of listening to Mia's misery.

While our kids played in the backyard, the adults visited in the front. Really, the perfect arrangement as far as I am concerned.

However, the brains of 8 kids can come up with some odd ideas for entertainment.

In celebration of Easter, the Smith and Merchant kids decided to take turns riding in the recycling bin while other kids pushed them around. It brought lots of giggle, squeals of delight, and loud thudding noises, but seemed an innocent, albeit odd, activity to me.

Until Mia was dropped and fell, banged her head and twisted her ankle.

It was pretty bad. I could tell it really hurt; it was swollen and bruised, and the next morning she said it was not any better.

Now, since Mia is a very dramatic girl who has longed for an occasion on which she could break a bone and get a cast for years, and has confessed many times to suffering from extreme pangs of jealousy over the fact that Maggie broke her collar bone three years ago, I take her medical complaints with a justified degree of skepticism.

However, at the same time, I do sometimes drag my feet a little too much about taking her to the doctor. I did one time wait three days to take her in only for her to have strep throat, an ear infection, and pink eye! I know, Worst Mom Ever Award Recipient for 2009 right here. But it is hard to tell with her. Really!

In any case, I decided that it looked and seemed to be bad enough the next morning that I ought to take her in to have it looked at. Especially, and admittedly perhaps a little selfishly, since we were leaving on a trip the following week and I did not want to put off for days something that could have started healing sooner.

So I grudgingly sacrificed my Monday cleaning day and everything that I had to get done to take Mia to the doctor. (I guess this is what I get for praying for ways to spend more time with her and demonstrate my personal attention and commitment to her -- Never pray for something you don't fully desire to put into action.)

For Mia, it was a glorious day. She had an xray, and proudly informed the tech that now she had experienced all the tests, having had a Cat Scan, an MRI, an ultrasound, and an X-ray! She got to be pushed around in a wheel chair -- another lifelong dream come true. I told her she could lean on me and hop up to the doctor's office, which she did, but once the nurse offered a wheel chair, there was no turning back.

She had even told me earlier that it would be fine if her ankle was broken for our trip to Disneyland because she could use a wheelchair! Imagine this statement being delivered in a very serious and reassuring tone, until the end when a delighted and impish smile breaks through. That is Mia.

She was informed she had had a minor concussion; she had her foot wrapped, and then, the doctor wrote her a prescription for crutches. No her ankle was not broken, only sprained. I did not think that she really needed crutches, although she was making me nervous only hopping around and refusing to put weight on the foot. But, when I saw the look on her face, the excitement she was trying to contain, I just could not say, "No.".

Mia has ALWAYS wanted to get crutches. She is rather obsessed. She wants crutches and wheelchairs for her build-a-bear animals and her American Girl dolls. A few years ago she managed to finagle a promise from my friend, Denise, who had actually broken her ankle and had to use crutches, to try and get her a set of child-size crutches. And, she has not forgotten. She has been planning on getting to have those crutches. In fact, in between the three stops it took to find a pharmacy that carries children's crutches she remarked, "Mom, you better let Sister Beatty know that I don't need her to get me any now."

So, the injury was really a dream come true. She brought her crutches home and spent the next 24 hours milking it for all it was worth. I just tried to not be too put out by the whole affair and to remind myself that Mia was having a very long awaited experience in her life.

The next day I had an appointment to take her to an orthopedic surgeon we have been seeing about an entirely separate ligament problem she has in her wrist. He took one look at the crutches, asked about what had happened, and advised Mia to place them aside and instead be fitted for a walking brace. Hallelujah.

After two days at school, Mia found the crutches to be cumbersome and inconvenient, and opted for the brace.

So, her love affair with crutches lasted under 36 hours. Fortunately for me and my peace of mind, the insurance covered the cost with the prescription. So I am chalking the whole episode up to a chance for Mia's wishes to be fulfilled.

Since then, the crutches were lowered, and Maggie and Elsie have both enjoyed afternoons taking turns on them. I guess now we are prepared for any future injuries that may come our way. And, if anyone lives in Boise and needs kids' crutches, you know where to come.

In the end, her foot healed well and she did great on our trip. I just hope that this has gotten the need to injure her legs out of her system for good. Dream come true or not, having someone in the house on crutches is just a huge pain!