In which Friday started off to be a nice day...
Last Friday my mom and I went to the Spa at Colonial Williamsburg--highly recommended, BTW--for birthday week manis and pedis. It was a wonderful experience and we left there feeling relaxed and hugely pampered, until we came home and my mother promptly broke her ankle. Well, technically, her leg. She has a nice clean break in the fibula, which meant the rest of Friday was spent in the emergency room in the middle of a snowstorm, but mercifully no surgery! (At a loss for what to do with myself when she went up to X-ray, I tweeted, and very much appreciate the kind messages.) Hopefully she'll be seeing the orthopedic specialist today for the cast, and I cannot WAIT. I will be twitchy until we get her home and comfortable again.
I know it's going to mean several weeks of being mostly sofa-bound for her--thank goodness the Olympics are about to start!--and we're going to get a lot of very excellent mother-daughter time. I plan on taking my laptop and camping out in her living room for much of each day. But I know she's going to get restless and want some things to do besides just watching TV. I've got her stocked with books, magazines, Spanish lessons, notecards for writing letters, and crochet materials. I would LOVE some ideas for other things she could do while sitting on the couch and knitting her bones back together!
I know it's going to mean several weeks of being mostly sofa-bound for her--thank goodness the Olympics are about to start!--and we're going to get a lot of very excellent mother-daughter time. I plan on taking my laptop and camping out in her living room for much of each day. But I know she's going to get restless and want some things to do besides just watching TV. I've got her stocked with books, magazines, Spanish lessons, notecards for writing letters, and crochet materials. I would LOVE some ideas for other things she could do while sitting on the couch and knitting her bones back together!
Labels: counting our blessings
posted by deanna at
5:35 AM
10 Comments:
Perhaps, if she is on pain meds, you might slip in some quiet time so she can doze off. If sleep knits up the raveled sleeve of care, perhaps it can handle a fibula, too. I wish you both a smooth convalescence.
My son broke his fibula skateboarding a couple of years ago. I told him he'd told one too many fibs and that's why it broke.
He didn't think that was very funny. (I, mean mom that I am, thought it was hilarious!)
Sounds like you've got lots for mom to do--if all else fails you can have a Jane Austen movie adaptation marathon or play a really loooong board game like Risk.
If they gave her one of those walking boots, she will be up and around in no time, I'll bet. Speedy recovery!
A good time to organize family pictures and begin scrapbooking them if she hasn't already.
Thank God she'd just gotten her toes done!
(but seriously, I hope she's feeling better soon and I know you'll keep her content.)
If it were me, I'd settle in with a Buffy the Vampire Slayer marathon, seasons 1-6 and the last episode of season 7. Trust me, the rest of season 7 is best forgotten. That or finally take the captive audience thing to the hilt and hit up War and Peace.
Oh and if your mom is into period pieces, I would recommend the BBC's North and South, adapted from Mary Gaskell's North and South. Don't know if you've seen it? It's very romantic and packed with the amazing detail that only BBC productions do. Sidebar: Richard Armitage is probably the most 'hot in the cravat' man you've seen in a while. Amazon is selling the DVD as an import, btw. Enjoy!
Make cookies. Get an easy jigsaw puzzle (500 pieces). Interview her, and write it down. I once interviewed my mother in law and uncovered many interesting things that her own family didn't know. Find out what she did that was most memorable to her: plays, movies, early boyfriends. There's probably some stories there that would impress even a successful novelist. Give her a research project like medial techniques of the Victorian Era. Explore the family tree and find out who the real nutty ones were, and what they did.
It seems like your family in general is interested in history, so maybe your geneaology is already charted. But if it isn't, there's a lot of research you can do with just the internet and maybe a few phone calls, so that might be a good project for your mother to work on while she's off her feet.
~Meredith
When I broke my leg I just wanted to be able to Get Out! Anywhere ... a ride in the country, to the movies (some theaters have wheelchair accessable seating, which gives plenty of room to stash the foot), sitting outside (unfortunately, it was January and lousy weather).
What about a sitting-up shoulder and back massage? A facial? A spa party at home?
Journey
Needlepoint, sketch pad, journal...
If she's never done it before, she might consider letting herself play with collaging--a nice sketch journal and a shopping trip at the art supply store could have her well on her way to experimenting this art form. Sometimes when we're bored out of our gourd we allow ourselves to experiment with stuff we wouldn't normally consider.
What I love about collaging is that even amateurs' (that would be me) efforts look artistic. And it's just plain fun.
Post a Comment
<< Home