Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Old Folks These Days...


Every time I turn around, Mum has got the Wii out and she's skiing or running or boxing or bowling or...


Sometimes she's doing aerobic step-ups or riding a bicycle through a town collecting flags...


Or hitting baseballs or golfing...
Old folks these days...
All they do is spend hours and hours exercising on a video game...
When Mum had her stroke, it knocked out some body awareness and she had trouble keeping her balance. What seemed vertical to her was actually off-vertical, which meant she'd fall over if she wasn't holding on to something.
Balance is a very tricky issue. If you've ever lost yours, you'd know how much you use it even when you aren't thinking about it.
Mum's balance is much better but falling is still a concern. To allow Mum to get totally involved in her video games and not have to hold on to something for fear of falling, I built her this little contraption she is standing on in the picture.
The Wii Fit station sits on a plywood base that has indoor/outdoor carpet glued to its bottom. A metal "ring" (it's squarish) is bolted to the plywood, and a steel tube welded to the ring. That square tube rises up three and a half feet where another "ring" (in the shape of a squarish "C" is welded. This is padded with plumbing insulation and grip tape because Mum gets a little carried away playing tennis and such...
So Mum gets inside the ring at her waist by turning sideways and squeezing through the opening, which is just wide enough for a squeeze but too narrow to "fall out of" if you fall backwards. From the safety of this position, she can do all of the games on Wii without holding on to anything. If she loses her balance, the padded ring gently cradles her and keeps her upright. This of course, allows me not to have to monitor her exercising and I can leave for the afternoon or do work around the house...
So yeah. I built it for me too...

7 comments:

JamieSmitten said...

Too cool! You are mighty crafty, mister.

Jeannie said...

Clever boy!

Anonymous said...

What phrase... super, a brilliant idea

kario said...

Look at her go! My husband just got his mom a wii for Christmas - can't wait until she opens it!

Shrinky said...

Scott, it every mum's feverent wish to have a son who ends up like you - what a brilliant, brilliant, well thought out and liberating contraption to gift to her. I seriously want to adopt you, think she is up for bribes?

Sweeti said...

Quick put a patent on that. This great, I'm so proud of your mom...and you.

Unknown said...

OWEN!!