Sledding Hurts

After a weekend packed with non-stop sledding fun, I have to admit that I'm wiped out. My body is sore in places that I didn't think was possible. For some strange reason, even my elbows hurt. If how I'm feeling today is any indication of what it is going to feel like when I'm elderly, I don't want to get old!

Robby had an absolute blast sledding which makes the pain that I'm feeling in my aging body worth it. He must have gone down the same hill 200 times, yet every time he went down, he squealed with laughter. He liked me to go down on the sled with him, but I wasn't nearly as giddy.

Until Friday I hadn't been on a sled for at least 20 years. But, trying to maintain my reign as "fun Mommy" I hopped onto the back of the little plastic sled and had Robby sit on my lap. He loved going over the make-shift ramps. I was fairly confident I was going to break my hip.

I anticipated that my body would be sore. I stocked up on Epsom salts before the snow arrived. What surprised me was the aching in my stump.

A few trips back up the hill with the sled and Robby in tow, I quickly realized that the muscles in my socket were getting a work out. In order to remain upright, I had to dig the front of my shoe into the snow. Hours of walking on my toes has left my limb hurting!

Because I was wearing snow pants, nobody knew that I used a prosthetic. I sledded more than any other adult and I never lost my balance as we schlepped back up the hill. As all of the adults were huddled together, lamenting their cold feet, I smiled. After all, only one of my feet felt slightly chilly. I love those "if they only knew" moments.

There has been one unanticipated benefit of our sledding afternoons. Robby has been exhausted by the time we return home. Once he gets warmed up and fed, he has been content quietly coloring and playing on the couch. He has been requesting to go to bed as soon as the sun sets. Robby's fatigue has provided me with the window I need to use my leg massage machine--which has been working overtime.