Don't I Get Workers Comp For This?

You’d think being a mom would be a pretty safe gig. Kage recently wrote about a near-catastrophic injury she had getting off a city bus with her kids. I, as well, have recently suffered a mommy-related injury. Not nearly as dramatic as Kage’s story . . . but serious enough that it will require surgery to fix.


We recently moved into a two-level townhouse and my kids are fascinated with the stairs, as they have never before had such easy access to a staircase. We originally bought child-proofing gates, but we are up and down the stairs so much, they became an annoyance and we aren’t consistent about keeping them up. I was in a bedroom kneeled down on the floor picking up toys when I noticed 17-month-old Asher moving at full speed, preparing to kamkaze down the staircase. I jumped up after him and immediately felt my knee pop. When Asher heard my shriek o’ pain he stopped long enough for me to intercept his fall. Then there was swelling, bruising, and now my knee pops out of place whenever I bend it at a certain angle and I have to manually move it back into place.

According to the doctor, I have a “bucket handle” tear in the meniscus of my left knee. The tear causes my knee to “catch” and “pop” out of place temporarily. Let me tell you about the pain. It makes me cry for my own mama every time it pops out. I can’t completely blame the child. I have a long history of injuries to this knee, which date back to my more athletic days in sports. This will be surgery number five on this knee in the last 8 years.


So it looks like I’m going to be dusting off my crutches and looking forward to that complementary bottle of post-surgery Vicodin in the near future. . . .

I know there are some good tales out there that need a tellin’ about your own mommy misfortunes. What kind of injuries have you suffered at the hands (or knees, in my own case) of your kids?

I don’t know about you, but I am going to demand hazard pay in my next round of mommy contract negotiations.