As if I needed another reminder....

....that having a brother or a sister can make hard things that little bit better. Leo was very very down about his broken wrist - this could have been for a variety of reasons - 1) he knows the chances are he isn't going to be playing rugby again (not for this year anyway,) 2) he is starting a new school tomorrow and while he loves to be different from the others in some ways (eg when Harry Potter came out was so peed off with everyone going on about it all the time he went and read Narnia again) he really does not want to stand out with his arm in a cast and not be able to write for 4 weeks (in the Italian school system this broken wrist really does run the risk of having long term consequences - there will be placement tests in the first few weeks and the first impression with a lot of the teachers is so so important -labels are attached!) 3) he can't play his bass guitar or fully participate in scouts etc (what's the fun of going if all you can do is 'talk' - he wants to play scout ball, lug stuff around, etc etc) - anyway, the long and short of it was he had lost all of the sparkle he usually has. But then Thomas came home - the accident happened on Wednesday while Thomas was down in the south of Italy helping his grandfather with the grape harvest - he didn't come home until Friday afternoon - he walked in the door and Leo 'reappeared' - it was like magic - having Thomas back has made the world of difference - and this was just one more reminder of how they will always be able to help each other through the difficulties they will come across in life. And now I'm off to phone my brother.......

Sod's freaking law.....

A good few years ago Leo got into Art Attack in a big way and made himself a plastercast for his arm (out of toilet rolls and tolet paper I think) ....he then had me take photos of him (the one on the top) to send around the family - the reactions were all that you would expect from a Gran or Grancha, Uncle or Aunt - shock, surprise, a little worry for him and then quite a lot of laughs when they realised what he had cooked up - of course you've all heard of his Dad and as you can imagine his reaction was slightly diffeent ....mega shock, mega anxiety and then a mega telling off (for leo and me) when he realised it was fake and we were told that it was 'in very poor taste' - so you can imagine his reaction when Leo, yesterday, 5 minutes after going onto the rugby field for his first training session of the year actually ended up looking like this (photo below) after breaking his wrist.....and it was of course made worse by the fact that ONLY THAT MORNING we had persuaded his dad to let him play - being the anxious father he is (his anxiety levels regadrding the kids' safety and health have to be seen to be believed) and following the eye incident last year it wasn't easy and yes, I too was a little worried about him playing with those huge boys but he loves it, it is the only sport he loves, he's been playing for a few years now so he knows exactly what to expect - we are NEVER going to be able to persuade his father a third time - I feel so bad for Leo, rugby didn't even come into it - they hadn't even started playing, he just slipped - sod's law or what!


ps this photo was taken while the aneasthetic was still working - since wearing off we haven't seen anything vaguely similar to a smile - he is in some pain, a lot of discomfort and is very down in the mouth - my poor boy.