Everything has consequences

We have had a lesson this weekend in consequences.

As in, you-do-this-and-that-will-happen, consequences. More accurately, you-don't-do-this-and-that-will-happen consequences.

Twinks was warned - and we nagged her twice daily. We have become the parental equivalent of a broken record (for you youngsters, that's like an audio CD that skips) telling her over and over again that she must do her physical therapy.

When we started talking about the braces earlier this summer, Twinks knew she was going to have to do PT - twice daily. She was told, in graphic detail, what would happen if she didn't.

To give her credit, she did really good for a while. Then, she started to slack off. Her dad and I would gently remind her, nag her, YELL AT HER, and she would do the PT. Not happily, but she would do it.

However, in just the past 10 days or so, she just pretty much quit. We warned her, reminded her, YELLED AT HER, etc., etc. Ad nauseum. Finally, I realized that she was going to have to learn this lesson "the hard way".

My younger brother was one of those kids who *always* had to learn "the hard way". He was the kid who put his hand on the still-glowing burner on the stove to see what would happen. Fell out of the tree and broke his leg, because he thought he could use a bedsheet for a parachute. Jumped off of the roof of the barn, and knocked himself out cold because he thought that the big old pile of leaves he raked up would cushion his fall. You know the type of kid - the one that everyone says "It will be a wonder if that kid survives his childhood". He was stitched up, bandaged up, patched up more than any other kid at our school. He always had to learn things the hard way.

Apparently, at least this time, so does Twinks. It's really a first for her. She's an incredibly intelligent, thoughtful person. She typically realizes that when Mom and Dad tell her something, it is for her own good. We have rarely had to discipline her - I used to worry, because she was almost freakishly *good* and obedient.

God, I love this kid. I love her more than I ever thought I could love another person. If something were to happen to her - I would just quit breathing. I wouldn't want to go on.

But right now, I could cheerfully feed her right to the pigs.

Because Twinks hasn't been doing her PT, in just ten days time she has begun to atrophy. Her feet have begun to stiffen up - they aren't as flexible as they should be. It's a direct result of wearing the braces (no pain = Good!) and not doing PT (no pain = Bad!)

Tonight, The Twinkie learned the hard way that she was going to have to start working again; she realized the consequences of her decision to skip PT were not just creeping up on her, but had overtaken her.

I hate to see this; I know she will now have to endure far more pain than she would have if she had only done the damn PT. (Yes, I know you are reading this, Twinks. I'll put a quarter in the jar later.)

Twinkle, Twinkle, my little star
Do your PT, and you'll go far
Skip your PT, and you will cry
Your feet will hurt; you'll want to sigh
Twinkle, Twinkle, my little star
Do that PT, and you'll go far...

Everything has consequences. Even when you are eleven and two-thirds years old.