CONNECT: December 16, 2013

Why Bringing it Home Matters....

I think it all started with the inside out pajamas.  I had never heard of that tradition until a few years ago, but now after a few "what is this for?" moments, I am well versed that if you go "inside-out" the night before a snowstorm, your odds of having a snow-day are massively increased.....or something like that.  So I probably should've known that the following day would be a little crazier than usual when I went to my six-year-old son's bedside for the nightly sign-off and saw that he had gone inside out......but who thinks of those things right?

As it turned out, snow was indeed coming, and school was indeed closed....no worries though, my mom (a school-administrator) was also therefore going to be home for the day - so it'd be a kid-rally at Grammy's.  The day was about as smooth as a day against the weather can be and I finally got back to the area.  I texted my Mom that I'd be by to pick up the kids and that was that.

As I walked in and said hello to my Dad, the conversation went something like this:

Dad - "do me a favor and check on your Mom"......

Mike - "why?"

Dad - "she fell"

Mike - "fell?"

Dad - "she was hanging Christmas ornaments, but she's OK"

Mike - "oh man"

I went inside to find my Mom sitting with foot elevated. She told me the (3 foot) ladder started to tip and she jumped off of it on the way down (as she winced in pain to move her leg so I could take a look).  At that moment, in one great rush of thought, every presentation I have attended or been a part of flashed across my cortex.  This was ladder safety 101 combined with landing mechanics combined with safe ascending/descending combined with knee and hip control.  Although my initial thought was "why where YOU on the ladder instead of the (more agile perhaps) kids?" I quickly got to "why was no one holding the ladder" and then to "why have I never made a point to share all of the scary stuff I've learned about falls from even (seemingly) small heights?".

Unfortunately, after evaluating her knee and ankle I shared with her what we both thought to be "bad-news", a conclusion that was confirmed by x-ray the next morning. After talking to the surgeon on the phone and hearing his recommendations for immobilization and limited mobility for a while (but thankfully no surgery) I couldn't help but wonder if my Mom would be paying a fairly steep price for my failed assumption that "ladder safety is mostly commonsense anyway right?".   Sure, it could've been a lot worse.....and I'll continue to tell her that the moral of the story is that old-ladies don't belong on ladders.....even really active ones......but the bottom line on this one is that although we don't always know how or when we'll need them most, those safety lessons do make a lot of sense.....but they can only be "common" when we share them and use them everywhere they apply.

Have a great (and safe) weekend,

Mike E.