It Wasn't Hayden's Fault!

Hayden has a funny story to tell!

Once a month at church our ward gets together in the cultural hall to have soup and bread when church is finished. It’s called "linger longer" so everyone has a chance to catch up. So, after our last meeting, we went into the cultural hall and started eating and talking like everyone else. A number of kids were running around, and Hayden happened to be one of them. All of a sudden, Hayden came running across the cultural hall to Tony crying rather loudly and uncontrollably. Through the wails, he explained that another child had just slammed his finger in a door while playing hide and seek. It was obvious to Tony right away that he had broken it - just hours away before he was due to get his cast off! I was busy talking with a friend and was actually quite oblivious to what had happened. I didn't even hear Tony calling for me as he left the hall to take Hayden into the kitchen for some ice. I knew Hayden's cry was a hurt one, but I had figured that Tony would settle him okay. The moment I went to check on things we left for the hospital and ended up spending all afternoon their waiting for an x-ray and a splint. By the time we got home it was after 5pm. Of course, Hayden was not a happy boy when he first broke his finger, but after the first hour when he had got over the shock and pain, no one would've ever known it was broken. Ashton was very caring towards his older brother and without any prompting at all he got Hayden a toy to play with in the waiting room and a drink of water. When it was time for Hayden's x-ray he was in and out of the x-ray room in a flash; he knew exactly what to do considering it was his 6th x-ray in the last month and a half.

Hayden was brave and strong and hasn’t complained at all so we are very proud of him for that. On Sunday night, he still sat on the floor playing Play Station with a cast on one arm and a splint on the other. I wish I had taken a photo.

Come 5pm, we were so glad to leave the hospital. Almost the whole time we were there some man who was waiting to be seen to, kept heaving and throwing up continuously (Mum says he was a regular and had been heaving since 9:30 that morning). There were a few old people in cubicles waiting to be seen (most of them looked like they were about to drop dead any moment), and whenever I would walk past them with Ashton and Noah they would call out so they could have someone to talk to. Then to top it all off I walked out into a corridor with Ashton and it stunk of poop! Someone had accidently gone to the toilet all over the floor! No wonder my Mum can't wait to finish her shift some days! Mum was on duty this time so it was nice to have her sit with us and help us in between her job and lunch break.

One of the mums at Hayden's school is very kind and caring, but sometimes very dramatic. She thought it was "just terrible" that Hayden had broken his finger and she was quite dramatic over feeling sorry for him. After Hayden and I walked away from the conversation Hayden said to me, "It's not that bad, is it Mum?" My mum always taught me that if you make a big deal out of something then your kids will do exactly the same. If you are dramatic about events, going on about how terrible something is, how painful, how inconvenient, then our children will follow suit and learn to feel sorry for themselves. We do them a big favour to teach them how to react positively to the little things that take place in their lives so that later on when the bigger things come, they can cope and have strength. Some of Hayden's friends and his teacher, Mrs. Feltham, thought that it was quite funny when Hayden showed off his broken finger with a smile. Poor Mrs. Feltham is paranoid about letting Hayden play outside at lunch time for fear that he might break something else! Fingers crossed we've had our fair share of breaks for awhile!