After 14 years of avoiding them, we’ve now entered the wonderfully terrible world of concussions. During a nordic ski race our daughter had a crash and had her proverbial “bell rung”. Concussion awareness is a big deal these days (see the NFL lawsuit and the new NHL protocol for examples in the pro sport world), and I’m grateful that the learning is yielding some positive steps for recovery. This is a far cry from when I was a kid and literally used smelling salts and a swig of water to get back on the ice or on the field of play.

Today, through the Return to Learn protocol, we have a structured step by step plan to follow. Once this has been achieved the Return to Sport guidelines will be followed. Bookmark these sites because they’re excellent. While I hope you never have to use them, they’ll be there should you or someone you know, need them.

While following these steps we noticed there is precious little to do for the modern tween or teen. No screens? Heavens above. After a couple of boring days we stumbled on the winning concept – audiobooks. Thanks to the good folks at the public library and our trusty internet connection, entertainment that is free of cognitive challenge is readily available. Add in a comfy couch by a window, a warm blanket and a pair of sunglasses and you’ve got yourself a decent recovery activity with some quality literature.