# Remind me not to buy a seesaw for my kids...



## Shishkabob

So during my 24 yesterday we were walking through the ER bored as heck (1 call the whole day)

We come up to one of the rooms with an 8yo f that got injured on her seesaw.


Bilateral compound tib/fib.


Ouch.


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## Sasha

Linuss said:


> So during my 24 yesterday we were walking through the ER bored as heck (1 call the whole day)
> 
> We come up to one of the rooms with an 8yo f that got injured on her seesaw.
> 
> 
> Bilateral compound tib/fib.
> 
> 
> Ouch.



I've fallen off a see-saw before at the top, and my sister has stepped off of it while she was at the bottom. Whether plummeting to the ground on the see saw or falling off of it and plummeting to the ground sans metal between your legs, it hurts like heck.

See Saws are dangerous and need to be taken off playgrounds.

Who'se bright idea were they anyway? Lord.


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## Mountain Res-Q

Sasha said:


> Who'se bright idea were they anyway? Lord.



The same guy who invented the merry-go-round that used to haunt every public park.  Watching kids strugle to hold on as I spun them faster and faster was awesome.  Watching them go flying off and landing 20 feet away with a variety of blunt force trauma ROCKS!    j/k


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## emt1994

Thanks Ill make sure my triplets stay off of them and fling there little sister off of it I sure dont need that happening.


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## DV_EMT

when i was a kid, i clipped my knee/tib-fib on one. didn't break (because i drank my milk and ate my wheaties)... but boy oh boy di it bruise and swell... couldnt walk right for a few days.

and what about the swing set... nobody has mentioned the thought of "getting horizontal" to the bar... or distance when you jump off of the swing at the max height and speed!


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## Sasha

> or distance when you jump off of the swing at the max height and speed!



That's sooooo much fun.


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## reaper

Sasha said:


> I've fallen off a see-saw before at the top, and my sister has stepped off of it while she was at the bottom. Whether plummeting to the ground on the see saw or falling off of it and plummeting to the ground sans metal between your legs, it hurts like heck.
> 
> See Saws are dangerous and need to be taken off playgrounds.
> 
> Who'se bright idea were they anyway? Lord.



Why would you want to take away one of the greatest playground rides?

We all survived them, so will future generations!


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## Shishkabob

reaper said:


> We all survived them, so will future generations!



Darwinism!


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## WannaBeFlight

Or those animals on the HUGS springs that you could ride back and forth. Those were great until you ended nose first on the concrete!  Not that I would know, hahaha.


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## JPINFV

Heck, why not just wrap all of the kids in bubble wrap?

/me misses the old style play grounds. It isn't fun if you can't get hurt. Suck it up nancies...

/me was also injured in a playground mishap on one of those 2-3 story tall space ship slides. example. Strange, I'll survive with the scar on my face...


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## Shishkabob

JPINFV said:


> Heck, why not just wrap all of the kids in bubble wrap?



YOU TAKE THAT BACK!


Bubblewrap is the king of time killing!


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## JPINFV

Oh, sure, it's fun to pop and all (/me goes and buys some more lab stuff just for the extra large bubbles), but I'm not going to fashion it into a shirt.


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## trevor1189

Playgrounds can be dangerous... I remember in elemetary school someone jumped off a swing and broke both wrists on landing. Ouch!


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## mycrofft

*Saw a little girl with probable mandib fx and definite busted teeth.*

Teeter totter caught her under the chin while she was climbing on from the end, another kid hopped on the other end.
Just make em rise a lesser height.
I remember they had a cool vertical concrete sewer pipe to jump into like a foxhole. Then one day I jumped in and the big kids had dug out a couple feet of sand...couldn't climb out!:blush:


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## Kookaburra

The best way to jump off a swing is right when the swing starts rising after reaching the nadir of its parabola. You go shooting straight out over the ground, it's great.

Note: Don't do what I did tho, and try this at full speed when you're in your 20s and it's been at least 5 years since you were last on a swing. The extra inertia sent me at least twice as far as I ever remembered going as a kid - and right into an oak tree.


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## VFFforpeople

Never liked See Saws..but jumping out of trees was always fun!


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## Meursault

I managed to rip out one of my permanent incisors with the unfortunate combination of a swing set and a temporary clothesline that had been strung parallel to it and just a little too close. I was on the swings, pretending to bite it (8 y/o kids...), actually caught it, and it worked like a giant slingshot. They found the tooth about 40 ft. away after a few hours of searching. It's still in my mouth, but with a veneer hiding the fact that it ankylosed and never grew.


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## Amack

reaper said:


> Why would you want to take away one of the greatest playground rides?
> 
> We all survived them, so will future generations!



AGREED!:beerchug:


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## FutureParamedic609

Guess they should take slides out too...
A couple years ago my sister was going down a slide and I guess she slipped and kinda fell foward.....anyway, she took a good chip out of her tooth.... we haven't been back to that park since! haha..

Emily


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## HasTy

You know i grew up on see saws and merry go rounds and i turned out alright...hmmm... that makes me think....maybe this song fits pretty well.....<_<


[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AlrFOBmdVI[/YOUTUBE]


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## imhumanoid

HasTy, I love that song ^_^

I wish it was that way now and as I was growing up.  * is 15*
I wish video games were never invented. It annoys me to no end, kids need to go outside and have fun, not "have fun" staring at a screen.


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## emt1994

My kids have one video game and they have to earn the use of it I make sure they are outside most of the day and they can only watch tv at night they dont mind that they lovebeing outside well see what happens as they age but its true you have computers,videogames, and our kids are mad because they dont have what the others do I said well when your old enough to get a job and make money then you can buy them but im not spending so much money on gaming systems they are lucky there aunts bought the one they have. 
I use to play outside from morning till dark with friends and you never had to worry about cell phones or anything else you just came home in time for dinner and things were so much easier


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## Melclin

Sasha said:


> That's sooooo much fun.



  ----Truth-----


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## Chelle

Then bikes better be out, too.  ^_^

When hubby was a kid, he and his brother turned their bike upside down and launched rocks as far as they could while spinning the tire.  They thought it would be a great idea to try a brick as they were positive it would completely stop the tire.  Instead, it launched the brick right into their little sister's head and dropped her like a rock.  They ran screaming to tell their neighbor that they killed her.  Guess they were too afraid to tell their mom.  She lived.  Come to think of it, maybe this explains all the dumbass decisions she's gone on to make in her life.

I also have a vivid memory of a little girl falling off the top step of a slide when I was in kindergarten.  She was unconscious and the teacher picked her up and ran with her to the school, her little head knockin' and bobbin' all the way there.  :huh:


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## medic417

Anyone recall the big barrel looking deal on the playground kind of like the hamster wheel that you got inside and tried to run as fast as you could then when you stopped or fell you went flying.  That thing was cool.  Wish they still had those.


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## Kookaburra

I remember those! I think I left about 70% of my epidermis on one at the local pizza parlor.


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## HotelCo

I liked the swings and the play structures on the playgrounds. Swings were fun, and the play structure, well... you could always find something to do on those things.


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## Small_Town_EMT

I don't feel that it would be wise to take away any playground equipment that may be deemed as possibly dangerous.  You talked about the Merry-go-round, and the seasaw, what about swings, jungle gyms, monkey bars etc.  There is inharent danger in any playground activity!  Are we going to ban our kids from running next because they may fall down and hit their face on the ground???  Let's let our kids live a little, and experience life.  It is impossible for us to protect them from EVERYTHING!


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## Small_Town_EMT

HasTy said:


> [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AlrFOBmdVI[/YOUTUBE]



Excellent song HasTy!  Made a very good point.


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## emtcboots

How about the huge Burger King slides that used to be on all the playgrounds around North Carolina? They were probably 10-15 feet tall. Giant heaps of scrap metal. When I was about 8, I was looking down at a friend from the top and somehow fell over the rail. Landed flat on my chest and my face. I never climbed to the top of a Burger King slide again.


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## Tincanfireman

Small_Town_EMT said:


> I don't feel that it would be wise to take away any playground equipment that may be deemed as possibly dangerous. You talked about the Merry-go-round, and the seasaw, what about swings, jungle gyms, monkey bars etc. There is inharent danger in any playground activity! Are we going to ban our kids from running next because they may fall down and hit their face on the ground??? Let's let our kids live a little, and experience life. It is impossible for us to protect them from EVERYTHING!


 
I would rather my grandchildren experience a broken arm from falling out of a tree than childhood obesity.  I would rather take them to the dentist with a chipped tooth from falling from a swingset than see them get caps from drinking too much soda.  I would rather they be tired the morning after reading too much than staying up playing video games.  Let our children learn that their actions can generate rewards or consequences.  Let them scrape their knees, cut their fingers, and get bruises.  All these things are better than wearing out the controllers on a Gameboy.


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## eveningsky339

Tincanfireman said:


> I would rather my grandchildren experience a broken arm from falling out of a tree than childhood obesity.  I would rather take them to the dentist with a chipped tooth from falling from a swingset than see them get caps from drinking too much soda.  I would rather they be tired the morning after reading too much than staying up playing video games.  Let our children learn that their actions can generate rewards or consequences.  Let them scrape their knees, cut their fingers, and get bruises.  All these things are better than wearing out the controllers on a Gameboy.



Amen!

Though now that I think about it, I know the kids at the local elementary schools more than I know some of my relatives...  Let's all thank playground equipment for supporting EMS.


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## bunkie

Let's take roller blades off the list too. I snapped my right wrist when I fell and landed on my hands in the 7th grade. Was not a fun summer. I still cringe when I see those things.


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## el Murpharino

Tincanfireman said:


> I would rather my grandchildren experience a broken arm from falling out of a tree than childhood obesity.  I would rather take them to the dentist with a chipped tooth from falling from a swingset than see them get caps from drinking too much soda.  I would rather they be tired the morning after reading too much than staying up playing video games.  Let our children learn that their actions can generate rewards or consequences.  Let them scrape their knees, cut their fingers, and get bruises.  All these things are better than wearing out the controllers on a Gameboy.



I believe George Carlin deemed it the "pussification" of society...


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## bunkie

Chelle said:


> Then bikes better be out, too.  ^_^
> 
> When hubby was a kid, he and his brother turned their bike upside down and launched rocks as far as they could while spinning the tire.  They thought it would be a great idea to try a brick as they were positive it would completely stop the tire.  Instead, it launched the brick right into their little sister's head and dropped her like a rock.  They ran screaming to tell their neighbor that they killed her.  Guess they were too afraid to tell their mom.  She lived.  Come to think of it, maybe this explains all the dumbass decisions she's gone on to make in her life.
> 
> I also have a vivid memory of a little girl falling off the top step of a slide when I was in kindergarten.  She was unconscious and the teacher picked her up and ran with her to the school, her little head knockin' and bobbin' all the way there.  :huh:




Ohh bikes. My most memorable playing injury. Was riding on the handlebars of my bike while my friend rode me realllllly fast. She hit the brakes suddenly and I went flying... down the gravel road, on my face. Walked back to the house crying and swatting gnats away from the ripped up flesh, walked in the door and my dad about hit the roof. Ripped off the right side of my face. It was a fun, fun summer.


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## jazzydoc11

Linuss said:


> So during my 24 yesterday we were walking through the ER bored as heck (1 call the whole day)
> 
> We come up to one of the rooms with an 8yo f that got injured on her seesaw.
> 
> 
> Bilateral compound tib/fib.
> 
> 
> Ouch.


lol, tire swings were the bomb. i loved spinning my playmates and telling them the teacher is calling just so i could see them try and run with their equilibrium all jacked up. ( i think i spelled that wrong)


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## Kookaburra

jazzydoc11 said:


> lol, tire swings were the bomb. i loved spinning my playmates and telling them the teacher is calling just so i could see them try and run with their equilibrium all jacked up. ( i think i spelled that wrong)



Ha ha, when I was in college I babysat for extra dough - my favorite was having "whirligig races"

I'd spin the kids on the merry-go-round, then they'd have to race to a tree and back or something.

COMEDY GOLD:lol:


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## nomofica

Kookaburra said:


> Ha ha, when I was in college I babysat for extra dough - my favorite was having "whirligig races"
> 
> I'd spin the kids on the merry-go-round, then they'd have to race to a tree and back or something.
> 
> COMEDY GOLD:lol:



I still do this when I'm bored... LOL

Get an office chair that can spin, and do just that for a good 15-30 seconds preferably quite fast. Then run around the room or try to wrestle each other. It's epic.


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## Theo

Ahhh, yes the merry-go-round was one of our favorites as children. although some may call it a torture device. I lived across the street from a public park growing up and one of our favorite games was to get every kid in the park on the merry-go-round and then spin it fast enough so people would start to fall off. Once you fell off, you joined in spinning it until there was no one left on it. This game, of course, led to vomiting, broken bones, stitches, and many minor injuries/bruises/scrapes, but man what fun. 

It's scary thinking about what we did growing up, but it's sad that my kids are growing up in a very different world.


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## Mountain Res-Q

There are two extremes here that I can illustrate from personal life.

My brother was one of those kids that needed to have a helmet strapped to his head and a pillow stapled to his butt.  The injuries I can remember include:

Riding his bike into a parked car.  He was not a little kid and had been riding a bike for years; just tried to play chicken with a parked Jeep.  He jammed his two top teath up and almost lost them.  He never could explain why he did this.  Maybe he thought it would swerve first...

Pretended he was a whale at Sea World and (in our built in pool) tried to beach himself by swimming underwater as fast as possible and when he reached the end of the pool, tried to "jump out" like a whale would.  Well, since he didn't use his feet to push off the bottom, and since he didn't have flippers...  he feel short and only his head beached, cracking hard agains the concrete.  He lost a chunk of fleash from his chin; a chuck that was never recovered and still has a scar on his chin.

Playing on a late 80' / early 90's home gym, he tried to climb it without using his feat...  he fell short and literally feel azz first.  He feel on a bolt and was left with a hexagon scar on his azz that could very well still be there.

Playing around at a friends house, he jumped on a wood burning stove (dunno why) and his right forearm landed on the top, resulting in second degree burns.  He didn;t tell anyone for several hours because he didn't wan't to leave his friends house.  He eventually told someone and went to the ER, but the resulting infection had so nice halucinations assosiated with it.  He woke up at one point and started screaming for "his green".  "Where's my green?  I need my green?"  Still not sure what that meant, but it was funny as hell.  

He jumped off a rock in Arizona (we all were) and broke his foot.  Again... never told anyone because he wanted to keep playing on the rocks.

Literally, from the age of 5 to the age of 15 he visited the ER more times than Tim "the Toolman" Taylor.  He broke bones, had serious preventable infections, and injuries resulting in some serious scars.

When he reached 16, the odds were elevated and it is a miricle that he is alive still.  He was stupid enough to video tape most of his idiotic "adventures" that usually involved explosives and high speed; things that really make for some awesome EMS calls...

ON THE OTHER HAND...

My cousin (12 y/o) can't run, throw, or jump.  He takes no risks because he never leaves the computer room, even when he comes to visit us.  My goal this next year is to take him into the woods and turn him into a kid.  I can't believe he is my cousin.  He is all about Starbucks, McDonalds, and Video Games.  Mind you, I like those same things, but the kid tried to chase the Hound this last month (forced "playing" time") and didn't know how to run.  He fell, scraped his knee, and cried until we let him back on the computer.  IT IS SAD!  

So, two extremes... One is a bubble boy, a product of society's urbanization that has left us all dependant on McDonalds, Starbucks, WalMart, and the computer.  the other, needed a bubble and large amounts of sedation.  Could we find a middle ground?  GET DIRTY... HAVE FUN...  GET OUTSIDE...  DON'T STICK FIRECRACKERS IN WATERMELONS AND SEE HOW LONG IT TAKES YOU TO RUN AWAY FROM THEM BEFORE THEY EXPLODE!!!  (My brother)...


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## JPINFV

Mountain Res-Q said:


> There are two extremes here that I can illustrate from personal life.
> 
> My brother was one of those kids that needed to have a helmet strapped to his head and a pillow stapled to his butt.  The injuries I can remember include:
> 
> Riding his bike into a parked car.  He was not a little kid and had been riding a bike for years; just tried to play chicken with a parked Jeep.  He jammed his two top teath up and almost lost them.  He never could explain why he did this.  Maybe he thought it would swerve first...
> 
> Pretended he was a whale at Sea World and (in our built in pool) tried to beach himself by swimming underwater as fast as possible and when he reached the end of the pool, tried to "jump out" like a whale would.  Well, since he didn't use his feet to push off the bottom, and since he didn't have flippers...  he feel short and only his head beached, cracking hard agains the concrete.  He lost a chunk of fleash from his chin; a chuck that was never recovered and still has a scar on his chin.
> 
> Playing on a late 80' / early 90's home gym, he tried to climb it without using his feat...  he fell short and literally feel azz first.  He feel on a bolt and was left with a hexagon scar on his azz that could very well still be there.
> 
> Playing around at a friends house, he jumped on a wood burning stove (dunno why) and his right forearm landed on the top, resulting in second degree burns.  He didn;t tell anyone for several hours because he didn't wan't to leave his friends house.  He eventually told someone and went to the ER, but the resulting infection had so nice halucinations assosiated with it.  He woke up at one point and started screaming for "his green".  "Where's my green?  I need my green?"  Still not sure what that meant, but it was funny as hell.
> 
> He jumped off a rock in Arizona (we all were) and broke his foot.  Again... never told anyone because he wanted to keep playing on the rocks.
> 
> Literally, from the age of 5 to the age of 15 he visited the ER more times than Tim "the Toolman" Taylor.  He broke bones, had serious preventable infections, and injuries resulting in some serious scars.
> 
> When he reached 16, the odds were elevated and it is a miricle that he is alive still.  He was stupid enough to video tape most of his idiotic "adventures" that usually involved explosives and high speed; things that really make for some awesome EMS calls...



I know why he did it...


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## R.O.P.

Mountain Res-Q said:


> DON'T STICK FIRECRACKERS IN WATERMELONS AND SEE HOW LONG IT TAKES YOU TO RUN AWAY FROM THEM BEFORE THEY EXPLODE!!!  (My brother)...




But it's only a firecracker!  M-80's and slingshots, now that's different...


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## Bane

Play grounds should be made for adults. That is the real danger there. Have you ever tried playing on a playground in your twenties? I ended up with a concussion from a slide, and a nice deep scar. Little kids are fine they bounce.


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## medicp94dao

My wife is a teacher ( bless her soul ) she keeps telling me all the horror stories of kids on the play ground getting hurt bumps, bruises, scrapes etc.... i just cant help but think back when i did the exact same thing. yea it hurt for a lil bit.... but i never did the same thing twice lol:wacko: i survived and so will my kids god willing... i miss most of those toys


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## DV_EMT

lol... we should pull out pull up bars too... I got a concussion from on of them... clotheslined... really bad headache too


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## Theo

I ran smack dab into a pullup bar in 6th grade, right between the eyes. Split me open and gave me a knot I still have to this day. A trip to the hospital? Nah, here's some ice kid go back to class. I can still remember the gasp of horror from my classmates when I took the ice pack off to remove my jacket.


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## Captn' Tuddle

When I was a kid I would always manage to somehow get my shirt caught on the swing. Most of the time the shirt would just rip but there were those few occasions where I went to jump off only to get yanked back and fall on my butt...ah the good ol' days.


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## bunkie

Oh the bars. You know those ones that dangle and are usually shaped like a triangle or circle? I was skipping those two at a time, when I was like 6? Went to get up on the landing, footing slipped. Fell off, smashed my chin on the landing and bit through half of my tongue.


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## Seaglass

Should we ban mulch from playgrounds too, because a kid in my class became seriously injured after falling and having chunks go up her nose and mouth? How about sports like baseball? I know another kid who suffered a broken wrist that never regained fully functionality. 

Outdoor things that are good for you and fun tend to come with risk. Most of us survived.


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## bunkie

I'm not taking it, and posting as a literal we should ban things. Just kind of sharing my horror stories in good humor. *shrugs*


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## Seaglass

bunkie said:


> I'm not taking it, and posting as a literal we should ban things. Just kind of sharing my horror stories in good humor. *shrugs*



Wasn't directed at anyone in particular. Just a comment on the general bubble-wrap mentality that I keep seeing in the real world.


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## firecoins

Linuss said:


> So during my 24 yesterday we were walking through the ER bored as heck (1 call the whole day)
> 
> We come up to one of the rooms with an 8yo f that got injured on her seesaw.
> 
> 
> Bilateral compound tib/fib.
> 
> 
> Ouch.



Hey....don't get a buy a see saw for your kids.


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## bunkie

Seaglass said:


> Wasn't directed at anyone in particular. Just a comment on the general bubble-wrap mentality that I keep seeing in the real world.



I get ya. I'm a shake it off kind of person. My kids fall down/bump into something I have them walk it off after a quick kiss and hug. No CT's and foam padding for them. My 3 year old has proven to me that children can survive just about anything. :lol:


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## Michael Sykes

Yeah, my grandson has survived about everything. Broken forearm, other wrist, other thumb (all at different times), and got his foot caught in a moving treadmill belt when he was 4. Burned his ankle to the bone. They had to do a graft off his butt, but now, at 16, he's fine.

I remember trying to "walk off" a broken knee when I was 14; the kids thought it was cool when it bent the wrong way. I didn't think it was so funny.


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