Growing Pains

The Blue Jay fancies herself a bit of an equestrian, she does. Which I suppose she might after eight or so years of riding.

I will never forget the first time I saw her take a fall. She was probably seven or eight years old, in her first year of riding, and such a tiny little thing courtesy of the keto diet. As I watched she somehow managed (and to this day, I've never figured out how) to move herself up the horse's neck. Up and up. Until she went over the top of his head.

I tried not to laugh but it was pretty funny to watch. And fortunately, being the energizer bunny she was at the time, she popped right back up and kept going.

So when I heard that she fell riding this past Wednesday I didn't think too much of it. After all, these things happen. Imagine my surprise to get a call from school this morning, as I was trying to make my way out the door to work, to tell me that the Blue Jay was in a lot of pain with her back from that fall while riding.

Pain? What pain?

Although she had apparently complained at school on Thursday, she hadn't said a word at home last night or this morning. So it was news to me. They had given her Advil, tried to distract her with things she enjoyed doing but she was consistent. Both verbally and in her body movements. Her low back really hurt.

I got her in to see my chiropractor this afternoon and he checked her out. Said that she had some restriction in her lower back, which was probably right where she landed. And suggested some ice over the next few days. Which was all fine.

But when he reassured me that he had checked for fractures and was pretty positive there weren't any, you could have knocked me over with a feather. Because such a thought ~ that she possibly could have seriously hurt herself ~ hadn't even occurred to me. Oh well, I guess I will never be accused of over-reacting.

There was one other interesting thing about the visit though. The Blue Jay has been to this chiropractor once or twice before, but it was a long time ago. She doesn't remember him. And I made a real effort to sit back, bite my lip (almost literally) and let her handle telling him what the problem was and where it hurt.

As a parent, you get so use to speaking for your child to doctors and others in authority when they are little. And for most kids , I think that as they get older they just naturally assert themselves and assume more of that role. But a kid like the Blue Jay tends to get 'therapized' and gets use to others speaking on her behalf.

So it was interesting to just sit back and leave it up to her. The whole situation (both of doing the majority of the communicating and the actual getting an adjustment) was pretty foreign to her. And although she wasn't me (which I am sure is a very, very good thing for her!), she did a great job.

Growing pains. For both mother and daughter.