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Day Camp with a broken leg - WWYD?



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Would you send your child to day camp with a broken leg?
Send him  
 53%  [ 28 ]
Keep him home  
 21%  [ 11 ]
Switch sessions even if is difficult for the family  
 17%  [ 9 ]
Other  
 7%  [ 4 ]
Total Votes : 52



yaelinIN




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, May 11 2010, 7:46 pm
My oldest son broke his lower leg on Sunday. He is expected to be in a cast for 6-8 weeks.

We had planned a jam-packed summer with grandparent visits, conferences and sightseeing and a session of day camp for all the kids in the large city near us. We live in a town with no other frum children their age (we homeschool), so this is their big chance during the year to be in a full-time frum children's environment. They made some acquaintances, but I hope with it being the second summer, they will get to know more boys.

We decided to send them to the first session (three weeks) of camp. We have already set up our apartment there, paid for the camps, etc. If we keep to our schedule, he might have his cast off during the first week of camp (of three weeks) but it is possible it might be on the whole session. I have inquired if it is possible to switch to the second session of camp. It is possible, but a tircha -- the apartment we have would have to be vacated for a long weekend at the beginning and might not be available at the end of the session and some end of the summer plans would have to be rearranged or scrapped.

What would you do? Would you switch the dates of camp and deal with the hassles of doing so in order to have your child for certain be able to participate in all camp activities or would you cancel camp for him or let him do what he can at camp? Has anyone sent a child with a leg cast to camp -- what activities could they do? Help!!
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Ima2NYM_LTR




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, May 11 2010, 7:48 pm
I recommend that you get in touch with the camp. what is their policy? Will there be activities for him to participate in? will he be able to get around?

Only the camp can answer these questions
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yaelinIN




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, May 11 2010, 7:51 pm
I did -- they said they would permit him to participate as much as he could. I have to pin them down. Swimming is probably out (there is some kind of thing to help waterproof the cast), baseball and other sports are out, he could learn. They didn't seem to do arts and crafts at his age. I have to speak to the director and his counselor tomorrow to pin them down.

Thanks for the reminder!
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Ima2NYM_LTR




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, May 11 2010, 7:59 pm
has he been to this camp before? will he have friends there? if so, it may be worth it for that alone
how does he feel?
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yaelinIN




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, May 11 2010, 8:03 pm
He went last year and had a good time. He did not make any lifelong friends, but it was his first year in a day camp in a city where he knows few kids his age. He came home happy most days. There was a day or two of bullying but the counselors set the other campers straight and it stopped.

He got the cast on yesterday and he is tired and a little cranky about having a long cast and having to learn to use crutches. I think he will get used to it and he, please G-d, will move to a short cast after about a month (a week or two before camp begins).
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yo'ma




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, May 12 2010, 6:51 am
How old is he? What does he want to do?
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Isramom8




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, May 12 2010, 6:59 am
If he agrees, I think I'd send him because it's mostly about the socialization. But at that age, and with boys, maybe the socialization is really around the sports.

There is always the hope that the cast will come off sooner rather than later. I think it depends on how much he is willing to put up with being left out of activities. Will he like the "camp atmosphere" anyway?

Could he study something interesting privately (homeschool) with a tutor during swimming?
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the world's best mom




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, May 12 2010, 7:08 am
I would definitely send him. My dd has 2 full leg casts on now. She is 4 years old, crawls around and even walks holding on- even though her casts are bent at the knees. She plays in the park like everyone else, except she crawls. She even rode a bike without pedals there. If your son will have one cast, especially if it's only a short one, I think he'll have no trouble. Of course, sports for older boys are different than 4 year old girl activities, but kids get by better than we expect. I don't think he'll feel left out enough to make you change your plans.
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chaylizi




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, May 12 2010, 7:15 am
my dd went to daycamp with a broken leg (and a wheelchair). the counselor was fine with it. she had started camp already & broke her leg in the middle.
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Starhavah




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, May 12 2010, 11:38 am
I've worked at camps and there is always one or two kids who have casts on during the summer. he might not be the only one. Also kids get swimmers ear and other sorts of things during the summer so he will not be the only one sitting out during swimming. send him with a small game he can play with a counselor or another child during swimming like cards. With a cast he can hit during baseball and have a designated runner run for him. Most camps with good sports directors will make accommodations.

Good luck and lets hope he is in the short cast when camp starts.
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amother


 

Post Wed, May 12 2010, 12:14 pm
dd broke her arm last week and has a waterproof cast (lined with goretex). we were told she could go swimming with it.

sorry for anon, if you want I can pm you
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pecan




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, May 12 2010, 6:23 pm
I posted send him, but I didn't mean that. It was a mistake and I don't know how to change it, but that's dependent on how complicated it is for you to change to the second month.
It's definitely miserable in boys camps if you can't do sports. Most of what they do is baseball, swimming, sports and more sports. It's a waste of your money too.
Can you send him for both months? So at least some of the time, he can participate?
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Rodent




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, May 12 2010, 7:37 pm
I vote that you should send him.
My 3 year old is in a full length leg cast right now (slightly bent at the knee) after breaking his leg climbing out of bed (slipped with leg caught in the safety rail). It's a spiral fracture of the shaft of his tibia (mid-shaft) in case that is relevant at all though I doubt it. After about a week he was walking around on it fine and can run and everything now with his cast shoe on (stops him slipping when he's walking on tiles etc and protects the cast). Yes it's awkward, slow and he's limited in some things, but he's surprisingly mobile. It does get a bit sore when he does a lot (it's been almost 3 weeks and he still needs ibuprofen on active daycare days but is fine if we potter about at home(he has almost 4 more more weeks in the cast)).
Chances are that when your son first gets his cast off he won't be doing any baseball or running activities for a while anyway, I've been told that they can be quite sore when the cast first comes off until the leg restrengthens, often more than when the cast is still on. So yeah, he may be able to do swimming and some other less demanding physical activities but I doubt all of them and quite frankly I think people will be more understanding of why if the cast IS still on...
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Barbara




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, May 12 2010, 8:02 pm
The idea is for him to have fun, and I just don't see that happening if his leg is in a cast. If it were his arm, he could at least run around, play soccer, maybe even swim. But a broken leg is a bummer, and is likely to keep him from virtually every camp activity.

If its not possible to switch the schedule, would you consider a non-frum, sedentary camp for him? Something like robot-making camp at a science museum, or computer camp. Something he could enjoy without serious limitations. I know its not the purpose of your summar plans -- you want him around some frum kids. But at least he'd be able to have fun while your other kids are at camp,

Refuah shleima to him, of course.
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yaelinIN




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, May 12 2010, 8:16 pm
Barbara wrote:
The idea is for him to have fun, and I just don't see that happening if his leg is in a cast. If it were his arm, he could at least run around, play soccer, maybe even swim. But a broken leg is a bummer, and is likely to keep him from virtually every camp activity.

If its not possible to switch the schedule, would you consider a non-frum, sedentary camp for him? Something like robot-making camp at a science museum, or computer camp. Something he could enjoy without serious limitations. I know its not the purpose of your summar plans -- you want him around some frum kids. But at least he'd be able to have fun while your other kids are at camp,

Refuah shleima to him, of course.


My MIL just made that same suggestion. There is a choice of frum camps in the city we are heading to, and I know one of them has some more sedentary type stuff going on. I will make inquiries tomorrow...
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