A Cowboy Fell From His Horse: A Halloween Tale

Once upon a time there was a little cowboy named Gunnar. One morning he awoke bright and early (much earlier than usual) to begin his normal little cowboy activities: rounding up the cars, feeding his face, and chasing his mom. Unfortunately, this day was going to be very different...Since I had Gunnar I have experienced the weirdest sense of guilt. If I don't play with him for x amont of time, Guilt strikes. If the tv is on for too long, Guilt slaps me in the face. If we don't read for at least an hour each day, Guilt punches me in the stomach. If he eats French fries for two meals, Guilt makes me feel fat (because I eat some too.) It's funny, but I am the only one that feels Guilt's pummeling. Jaren, for some reason, is exempt. Last year however, on Halloween morning, Jaren got a full dose from Guilt's bottle. (It isn't your fault, J. It could have happened to anybody.) Jaren is a great dad, the best. Gunnar is lucky to have him, and so am I. He is such an outstanding father that he used to get up with Gunnar in the middle of the night when he used to eat like every ten minutes. He still is the one to get up and get him in the middle of the night if he wakes from a nightmare or just needs some extra comfort. (Seriously, the very thought of Jaren getting up with Gunnar in the middle of the night makes me fall even more in love with him. Thanks J.) Halloween morning last year Gunnar was up early, too early. Jaren got him out of bed and was headed down the stairs with Gunnie wrapped around his waist. He lost his footing and accidentally fell backwards landing on Gunnar's leg. Long story short, our 18 month old broke his leg right under the knee. Jaren immediately thought it was broken; I didn't want to believe our little boy had broken anything so I told him to give Gunnar a shot of Tylenol and to go back to bed. Later our little cowboy, who was being as brave as he could, just couldn't surmount the pain from being "thrown from his horse". We took him to the doctor and sure enough he had, "a common break". We had expected questions from social services: What kind of relationship do you/does your spouse have with your child? What are your beliefs on spanking and contact punishment? Do you feed your son pizza and chips for breakfast?(We would have failed on that one.;))

This is what the cast looked like clean. It got pretty gnarly by the end.

At first he did a lot of army crawling. He learned how to walk and maneuver his cast quickly.

What a mean mom! I made him get dressed up anyway. Poor wounded cowboy.

Even though he was gimping around he still managed to wrangle up two Indians. (My mom made these costumes. Not too shabby, Mom!!)

We were relieved to go home with a wounded, gimpy cowboy and a cool glow-in the dark cast. What a sweet treat for Halloween!! Yeah, it wasn't so sweet bathing that boy in the sink for two months. Unfortunately, the rest of his Halloween wasn't as noteworthy as the morning. We tried to take him out trick or treating but the cowboy just couldn't handle rounding up his candy with only one boot. Let's hope nothing happens this year. I better get up with Gunnar if he wakes up early tomorrow morning. ;) (The irony? Tonight he is running a fever and pulling at his right ear. Looks like we will be at the doctor tomorrow!)

Our little cowboy was on his horse the next day.

His shirt says, "I do all my own stunts." They aren't always good stunts or successful stunts, but he does do them himself.