To concuss, or not to concuss, that is the question....

Well, it finally happened.  Luke got knocked on his butt in practice and fell backwards and hit his head on the ground.  It shook him up pretty bad and he was seeing stars for a bit.  But let me back up just a bit.

The previous weekend, during Luke's game, the other team took some very cheap shots including several late hits.  After one particularly troublesome one, one of the parents on our team ran onto the field.  Marlina saw a concerned dad running to check on his injured son.  I saw an angry dad running onto the field to confront the opposing coach about the late hits.  Either which way, the game was called and we took Luke home.  Later that evening, Marlina and I of course discussed the days events where she gave me her version of what happened.  She said she would have done the same thing and running out there to protect her boy would be what any normal rational person would've done.  I decided to let it go by saying "At least where Luke plays on the offensive line, the collisions are violent enough for him to get hurt like that."

Fast forward to the very next week in practice where Luke gets his bell rung.  The very next week.  Anyways, I got a good ration of "I told you so" when they got home.  I asked Luke what happened, and you could tell he had been bumped pretty good.  He took some Advil and relaxed on the couch for the night, with his mom right by his side all night.

The next day, he went to school and complained of a headache. When he saw his mom in the hallway, he told her he was having trouble concentrating.  This set off a tidal wave of fear into Marlina and she immediately wanted to contact the doctor.  The next appt. wasn't until the next day, so Luke went to practice (not participating of course), and then came home.  The next morning, I asked him how he was feeling, if he felt any pain, if he had a headache, if he was dizzy or nauseous, if he saw stars, if he was having trouble concentrating.  All of which came back a resounding NO.  I made the casual suggestion to my wife that he is fine and I didn't think he needed to go see the doctor.  How do you think that went over?

Anyways, she took him to the doc.  The verdict:  mild concussion.  Maintain rest and no contact sports for a week. 

I bring all of this up not to illustrate a difference of opinion between me and my wife.  Not even to illustrate the differences between moms and dads.  I bring all of this up to ask the question, is my son trying to act tough for his dad, and is he being totally honest with his mom?  In other words, it is really tough being a parent.  The tugs at the heart are strong and evenly matched with the knowledge of the brain that every kid must grow up.  No parent wants his kid to get hurt and it is very painful watching him when he is not at his peak.  Does it make me a bad dad because I said that a bump on the head might be good for him in the long run?  That challenges, including physical ones, will help him grow up?  That the best stories in life are ones of overcoming adversity?  I don't think so.  Especially when I have the ying to my yang, perfectly contrasting my every move, right by my side, to make sure I don't go off the deep end, as is my job with her.