TOLD YOU!!

I should have been a doctor.  Or a nurse.  Then again... Maybe not.  I can't stand blood and needles and seeing people in pain.  Yea, that's why I'm not a doctor.

I took L to the doctor yesterday so she could tell me what I already knew.  Surprise, surprise.  L has a sprained ankle.  She was given an air cast and told to stay off her foot anytime she wasn't in school.  She's to come home, elevate the leg, ice it, and take ibuprofen every 4 to 6 hours.  This means no gym class and no soccer for two weeks.  It also means that she's not allowed to go running around with her friends after school which I can tell you without a doubt she is NOT happy about.  She actually thought she'd be able to go to her boyfriend's house today after school, and to the football game then a girlfriend's party on Friday.  She's outta her damn tree is what she is.

The rule with L and her soccer is simple.  We paid too much money for her to miss any practices or games.  Not that she was prone to this but there were occasions in the past where she'd claim cramps to avoid playing in a game or being too tired to attend a practice.  It's time for her to buck up and realize she made a commitment to this team.  We agreed to pay the outrageous amount of money for her to make that commitment to this team, and she will participate in all of the team events.  Obviously a sprained ankle needs to heal in order for her to participate.  I get that.  But if the ankle is to heal she has to stay off it as much as possible.  That means she can't go running around at football games, at parties, or to her boyfriend's house.  

I laid it out for her last night and she "doesn't understand".  Of course!  I explained to her that if she's too hurt to participate in soccer, she's too hurt to go out with her friends.  If she decides that she's ok to hang out with her friends, she can go to soccer.  I also laid out her options about her healing, and ultimately about soccer as well:

1.)  Go out with her friends, don't go to soccer, and don't go to Homecoming. 

2.)  Go out with friends, go to soccer, and go to Homecoming. 

3.)  Stay home for a while, let her ankle heal, return to soccer in 2 weeks and go to Homecoming.

I think it's pretty obvious.  Some people may think I'm being mean (L for one), but I don't see why I have to go into debt to pay for soccer and then allow her to act like it's nothing.  I know that injuring her ankle wasn't done on purpose, but I'm trying to get her to realize that when you make a commitment such as she did there are costs associated with that.  Both monetary and socially, and sometimes you have to give up doing something you really want because it's the right thing to do.

Am I being too mean to her?