Life's a risk but we can usually bounce back

Nicola Young Photo/File

One week and one day - that's how long our wonderful new trampoline lasted before the first serious injury.

Yep, I knew tramps were dangerous, but I thought doing my research and choosing one with safety net sides and padding springs outside the nets would make a difference.

But turns out Mr Five can break a bone in his foot just by landing heavily after some enthusiastic bouncing with his dad. And he's not alone. There are plenty of kids getting injured on tramps, and he was the sixth at the hospital on Sunday when dad took him in.

Luckily our boy has had very little pain, so he's enjoying the attention and having fun on his crutches.

He has a moon boot on and is meant to be keeping off his foot for a week, but it's hard to make him comply, especially as it isn't hurting.

So I've been driving him the 400 metres to school, just around the corner, which he is loving but I am not.

I really enjoy our normal mode of transport to and from school and preschool, the boys racing ahead on their bikes and me trotting behind, attempting to keep up.

Now we're in the thick of the hideous cluster of cars around the school gates. I know some people must drive for various reasons but it's an awful habit to get into if it's not essential. I was surprised to see a fuel company advert in a magazine promoting a "busy mum" zipping around her suburb, promoting how their fuel was more efficient and it helped her keep up with her "busy life". It was weird to me, a bit dated even. Yes, cars are a necessary tool and more efficient fuel is great, but why would you drive lots of short trips when you could walk?

Walking is great way to get places if you're not going far. No need to find a car park, pay for parking (or get a parking ticket when it expires), look out for other road users, etc.

A stroll to the shops can take about the same time as driving if you live somewhere handy like me, but you get the bonus benefits of stretching your legs, a bit of fresh air, a gaze into the sky and trees, giving the dog a walk and, my favourite, burning off some of the kids' energy.

Which takes me back to the trampoline, a brilliant energy-burner, but perhaps we'll be a bit more conservative about how we use it.

No more double-bounces but we will be back on it having fun.

Luckily Mr Five has not been put off and is keen to get back on the tramp once his foot heals.

There are risks in everything we do, whether it's taking the training wheels off the bike (yes, that's been in the past week, too), climbing the pohutukawa or bouncing on the tramp. There's no cotton wool coming out for our kids, although feel free to test me on that again if we're back at the hospital too quickly.

I do have one more trampoline-related admission to make. I made Mr Five walk to school (it's only 400m) on the Monday after the accident.

The X-ray was initially read as all-clear and, because he wasn't complaining of pain and has a bit of a dramatic streak, I thought it was best to get him back on his foot.

So we made it to school but during the day I had a call from the doctor to say they'd re-reviewed the X-ray and there was a wee break after all. So, with some embarrassment, I turned up at school and explained the situation.

The next day I took the teacher's advice and kept him home to heal quietly. Mr Five said he wanted extra hugs and even though I was trying to get some work done (working from home takes on a new meaning when you have a child around), he kept asking me to sit with him and watch TV.

So I did and it was lovely.

It's not often I stop and sit with my boy in that way. There's always something going on or I'm trying to multi-task or saying I'll be there in a minute, so I thought I would stop and sit (probably guilt-driven in part).

It was really nice just to slow down and have a cuddle, the best medicine for a busy life.

-Nicola Young is a former DoC manager who now works for global consultancy Aecom. Educated at Wanganui Girls' College, she has a science degree and is the mother of two boys.