first day of hols and arm in plaster

garret1

My 5 yr old twin girls graduated from their nursery today (very emotional):o and we were looking forward to an action packed 7 weeks of summer hols before proper school starts. On leaving the school building however one twin fell and now has broken arm and a cast on for...you've guessed it....7 weeks.:eek:
How can i keep her entertained, she is normally very active while not restricting her sister's activities and keeping myself sane.
By the way she is the bravest little girl in the world.;)

homersimpson_3

On leaving the school building however one twin fell and now has broken arm and a cast on for...you've guessed it....7 weeks.

is it the arm she writes with? is she up to going out (some people suffer alot of shock etc with falls)? will she allow sister, friends, relatives etc to write on plaster? should keep them amused for a while.

garret1

Yep it's her writing arm. Like i say she is very brave but a bit weepy and fragile today. Arm is still swollen so she only has a temporary plaster on until tuesday.
I am really paranoid about her falling again (she is very accident prone, this is the latest in a long line of split heads, knocked out teeth etc.) The doctor warned me that if she knocks that arm again it could get quite serious.
Just don't want to spend the summer in front of the telly!!

homersimpson_3

Yep it's her writing arm... am really paranoid about her falling again ...Just don't want to spend the summer in front of the telly!!

the fact it's writing arm makes it difficult because it's you rely on it so much and most people don't have the same co-ordination using non-writing arm.
falling could be to do with balance (ear drum etc) or twin could just be more accident prone than others & will grow out it. (my friend was similar as a child- not as bad as adult but even now gets large bruise etc from a little knock e.g. accidently catching leg on corner of desk as she walks past).
for the first week at least realistically you are likely to be stuck at home (sorry) or back and forth to hospital. twin will receive alot of attention because of broken arm and people have to be careful not to alienate the other twin.
in week 1 could the other twin help you in kitchen saying making a cake/sweets/tea/supper/breakfast on a tray (whatever) - you get time away from telly- the other twin gets to help in kitchen and gets lots of praise and attention - the twin with broken arm feels special because people took time to make her a cake and recognises how brave she is. -would other twin make her a get well card. take other twin to buy ingredients whilst someone baby sits twin and gives her lots of attention.
take them to places where twin can sit down- e.g. cinema & mcdonalds (or whatever) afterwards- picnic in park- feed ducks and put bread in her other hand so she can join in too- when she throws bread put your arm around her to support her because balance is not as good when using the non-writing arm- you could take her to beach- she fills bucket with sand and you turn over the bucket- twin then pats the top with the spade and you take bucket off- it's not your sand castle - twin made it and receives praise. -if other twin doing some active (e.g. ballet etc) take twin to watch but let twin decide what she wants to do afterwards (twin musn't feel left out)- do any of your relatives or their friends play sports, in jazz band etc which you could take them to watch? take them shopping for things the need when they go to school- stationery, rucksack etc- you don't need to spend a fortune. make things with ribbons or sellotape- the other twin wraps the things (say birthday pressie) and asks twin to use finger on non-broken arm to hold it when she breaks the sellotape- twin feels useful and something they could do together.

Bossyboots

To be honest, within a week of my daughter breaking her arm and going through what you described, she was sick of wearing her sling, sick of wearing her plaster and sick of being restricted (except when it came to PE of course). So off she went and just carried on as normal and the broken arm didn't get in the way.

Once these first few days are over, the shock will wear off and you will see she will be totally different and will manage.

garret1

Thank you for your replies. Like you say hopefully she will be a bit more robust in a few days. Her twin, while a lovely little girl is used to getting more attention and always has been. i tried yesterday to get her to help but when I asked her to get her sister's pjs she replied "but you could get them mummy cos your arm's not broken" Oh the joys.
We are planning a trip out today, just a short walk in the forest so we'll see how that goes but it's more the emotional side of it, ie her frustration and her sister's jelousy that will pose the biggest problems.
Thanks again

Bossyboots

Forgive me for being frank here, but I would seize this as an opportunity to teach your jealous twin a few lessons. If one of my children had cheeked me back like that, he/she would not be getting a walk in the forest.

I would advise you to deal with the jealousy issues now while they are young as you will only be storing up even worse problems for later on.

garret1

Bossyboots wrote:

Forgive me for being frank here, but I would seize this as an opportunity to teach your jealous twin a few lessons. If one of my children had cheeked me back like that, he/she would not be getting a walk in the forest.

I would advise you to deal with the jealousy issues now while they are young as you will only be storing up even worse problems for later on.

Unfortunately this comes with the territory with twins!:rolleyes:
it is nearly impossible to punish one without punishing the other. i promised the one with the broken arm a walk in the forest and i can hardly leave the other one home alone. I assure you my girls are well disciplined but it is hard for one child who has always by nature asked for more attention to see her sister who tends to be very independent getting my attention instead. She did have to run alot of little errands for me round the house yesterday as twin 1 just wanted to cuddle on the sofa, but believe me she was punished for her cheek!;)

busymumof3

We recently went through this with my 5 year old daughter who broke her elbow. If your daughter has the temp half cast for potential swelling this will be awkward and heavy which adds to their discomfort. When she gets the permanent lightweight one is will be slightly better. The seven weeks may be worst case. We were told six but it actually came off after four, and her's was a nasty break with delayed healing. They strike a balance between mending and stiffening up apparently. It may not seem like it but it may actually be better that it has happened at the start of the summer holidays. My daughter ended up missing 12 weeks of nursery in the end. It seemed like forever at the time but after being given the all clear in April, it seems an age away.

juno

I went to a theme park when I had my arm in plaster! Some people behind me in the queue couldn't believe I was going on some of the rides. I couldn't do the really scary upside down ones, but I was about 7ish and didn't want to.

My mum taught me to play cards, and I lvoed reading so I did a lot of that.

But do make sure she does whatever she's supposed to! I was supposed to keep mine up most of the time, and I didn't which meant I had to go back into hospital later.

bulchy

My daughter broke her arm in the first week of the summer holidays a few years back. She didnt cry until the day after, I didnt realise that she was still in a state of shock, it was awful. By the end of the first week, the kids in the street had helped her to play tennis with her left hand, they were great with her. It did put a bit of a dampner on the holidays, as we couldnt go to the beach, as she was worried about getting sand in the plaster, and of course swimming baths were out of our plans too, she loved swimming, but we managed other trips out to parks etc. just had to keep an eye on her to make sure she didnt do anything silly.
I hope it doesnt spoil your holidays too much, and shes feeling better soon.
Sue