Paintball

So I have a dilemma. My almost-11 year old son, whose count was 25k two weeks ago, has been invited to a paintball party. He's gone a couple of times with his big brothers, but has only done target practice. When his brothers play, they get pretty bruised -- they're covered with welts by the end of the day.

We own a good face mask and a neck guard, but I've never let him play, and, frankly, I don't really want to. On the other hand, he's desperate to play. He doesn't yet know about the party, which is Sunday, and I don't know what to do. I haven't yet talked to my husband about it.

He's not generally a bleeder, except for nosebleeds. What would you do?

Do they wear head protection like helmets?
Erica

No, but he could wear a bike helmet and put the facemask over it.

Yikes! Tough one. I'd call his doctor and ask. Those hits can get pretty nasty.

I'm thinking a bad hit in a joint like a knee or elbow, or of course to the head, could be kind of serious with bleeding.
Erica

I think about his head and belly all the time; I didn't even think about his joints.

I hate not even telling him about the invitation because I don't like withholding information from him, especially now that he's older and bound to hear about it from someone else. I hate telling him, because then I'll be reminding him why it's not safe and he'll be extremely disappointed.

I think if I call his doctor, it will be more to validate my (and your) opinion that it's not a good idea. I've seen the bruises on my other two kids, who don't have ITP. I need to talk to my husband.

This was inevitable, but what a drag.

Thank you all.

I used to play paintball with my brother as a kid. My bruises were seriously bad and I did not have ITP at that time and we did have face masks. If you get hit in the wrong place, it's a big problem. I would not let him go.

Poor kid. That must be hard.

When he was 11, I let my son go on a school paintballing day with that kind of count. He got a few bruises but nothing too bad. I can't remember if I asked the doctor first or not, but he was happy with an adventure activity holiday when my son's count was only about 15.

As you've mentioned, it's probably best to check with his doctor. Brady has played paintball a bunch of times and I feel like a bad parent now, but I never really thought about his count that much. They've never gotten really bruised or anything - the boys have their own guns and play in the woods near the lake we go to all the time - so I'm thinking that maybe the power on their guns is much lower than what some other people are talking about. Maybe you could check with the paintball place to see if they regulate the guns? Anyway - I always make sure that the boys have on multiple layers, including a thick sweathshirt, jeans, and of course head and face protection, so maybe that helps and with the cold weather it would be easy for your son to layer up.

Good luck with the decision - I know exactly how you feel. It's so tough for the kids to have to miss fun stuff but we have to keep our kids safe also. Hang in there.

Have you thought about getting your kids interested in laser gun gaming? It's fun and a blast and don't think you would have many worries about your son playing either. Just a thought?

My kids have all played laser tag -- is that what you're talking about? That's a great idea for my ITP kid, but the older ones (16 and 14) LOVE paintball and probably wouldn't be interested. Thanks for mentioning it. I'll check it out!

Ali -- your school had a paintballing day? That's amazing.

My older kids come home extremely bruised -- these big round red welts that turn into big purple bruises, and they have normal platelet counts. I'm not comfortable with letting him go without lots of extra protection, including a neckguard and possibly a helmet kind of facemask (since I've learned that a regular facemask won't fit over a bike helmet), and we can't get it tomorrow.

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Well, the doctor called back as I was typing this. She doesn't think it's a good idea at all. So that's that.
Now I have to figure out a way to tell him, since he's going to a party tomorrow where some of the same kids will be, and I'm afraid that they'll be talking about it. Oh, well.

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One more edit: just looked up laser tag. I see you're talking about serious stuff, here. That would probably work for him; I just need to see if there's a facility anywhere in NYC. Thanks a lot!

Laser tag.. I just looked and see that it's now called that in the UK too. It wasn't when I was into it a few years back. I was in the adult gaming team at the largest arena in Europe.. or so they claimed.. and loved it. We played all sorts of different games with different objectives against teams from other towns. I'd have thought it's a great game for ITP kids.

My kids played a totally different kind of laser tag at an indoor play space when they were much younger. It was played in the dark with black lights and lots of fluorescent colors, and each team wore different colored fluorescent vests.

This new kind would be perfect for my youngest kid, and the older ones would probably love it too. It looks very much like paintball without the pain (and mess).

Thanks again for the idea, banana!