What happens if you get sick or injured?

The thing about serious illness and accidents is, you never know when they are going to strike.  You always think “it’s not going to happen to me.” But what if it does?  A year ago, nearly to the day, I broke my wrist NON CONTACT sparring the very first (and only) time I tried a Taekwondo class after having kids (I used to do taekwondo competitively when I was a kid).  It was so hard looking after the kids with one hand (which wasn’t even my preferred hand, since that one was broken), pushing a double pram with one hand, riding the bus everywhere since I wasn’t allowed to drive, picking a very young Daniel up all the time, etc.  I still could though.  Just.  What if I got an injury that meant I couldn’t? Aaron has to go to work, or we don’t earn money and can’t pay the bills.  What could we do?

Today’s sponsored post gives an option:

So I’m worth $96,261 p.a. to my family as a home maker; what happens to my family if I’m unable to contribute as director of household management?

If being a home maker earned an income, the estimated annual income is estimated to be $96,261 p.a., but there are many facets of household management that no price tag could compensate for!

Being a home maker means wearing multiple hats, sometimes more than one hat at a time; a home maker is an educator, personal trainer, personal assistant to our children and a mediator just to name a very few! If you sat down and wrote a list of what you did day-to-day and worked out what the job duties of a home maker actually were, the estimated $96,261 may not feel fair compensation!

More than the usual things like cleaning, driving, caring for children and home maintenance; being a homemaker comes with many things that money cannot compensate for.

What if sickness or injury occurred and you were no longer able to contribute to the running of the household? This would impact different families in different ways; would the main income earner still be able to work whilst taking over the domestic duties? Would you need to hire domestic assistance? If you are a single parent, if you were disabled would you still be able to provide your children with the same level of care?

The effects can be devastating to a family. With the loss of the homemaker and the potential loss of income from the main income earner or the added costs of domestic assistance; the financial strain on a family can be long lasting, not to mention the added overall stress of being ill or injured.

Historically, if this were to occur, families would need to cope on their own. However with the vital need for some form of financial assistance on the event of disablement of the homemaker, insurance companies in 2012 have started offering products specifically for homemakers.

A more specific policy now available is a Homemaker Income Protection policy. A new product to the market, the Homemaker Income Protection policy can provide up to $5,000 per month for up to 2 years, some with paying automatic payments for certain illnesses like cancers, heart disease and stroke. Coverage is 24/7 and provides a benefit for major sicknesses and injuries. There are also options to cover children!

Primoris Financial has been assisting homemakers protect themselves against illness and injury since the introduction of these products and offers a 20% Cash Rebate on first year premiums for new policies! The cost of this coverage can be surprisingly low and Home Duties Income Protection Quotes can be requested online!
The value of a home maker cannot be understated nor can the value of protecting the homemaker against illness and injury.

*This post is sponsored by Primoris Financial and written by Benjamin Irons. Benjamin Irons is a financial adviser with Primoris Financial. Primoris Financial compares 12+ major Australian Life Insurance Companies to find competitive policies for clients Australia wide.

Benjamin Irons is an authorised representative of Millennium3 Financial Services Pty. Ltd. AFSL 244252 ABN 61 094 529 987. The information is general in nature and may not be relevant to your individual circumstances. You should refrain from doing anything in reliance on this information without first obtaining suitable professional advice.

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Copyright 2013 Sheri Thomson

Trust me, it’s safe.

When I was little, from 4th to 9th grade, I did taekwondo. As I remember it, I was pretty good. But you know, I was a child, so maybe I just thought I was good. I even used to compete in tournaments. I went to nationals twice.  See, I was good….

So what better way to get in shape and lose the rest of my baby weight? I thought martial arts would be fantastic for me. On Monday, I tried out Muay Thai. It was fun, but I prefer kicking. Plus, I have wonky double jointed elbows that sometimes make my punches a little bit special.

Double jointed elbows, you ask? Just picture this: I can put my hand on a table facing forward and then turn it 360 degrees to face forward again.  I can move my elbows 180 degrees without moving my hands.  It freaks people out, so I tend not to do it in public unless I want some kicks, giggles, and disgust.

My next trial was a Taekwondo place.

“I don’t want you to get hurt.” Aaron told me.

“I did Taekwondo for 4 years. Never once did I get hurt. You wear all sorts of pads.  Pads on your arms, hands, legs, chest and stomach, head… It’s fine.”

Class went was going great.  I was having a ball. At the end came a little non-contact sparring. The first round I was with a young black belt. She couldn’t really get a kick in.  I like to push like that.  Like a little firecracker.

Second round.  I fought the teacher. Funny, he didn’t fight anyone else.  I accidentally got him in the balls. Oops. But, since it was non-contact, it was very light and didn’t actually hurt him at all.

Third round. I was up against the tallest guy in class. I have no idea what rank he even was since he forgot his belt at home (and we all had to do extra push ups for it). He threw a kick, I blocked. He got me in the wrist.  Not very hard, so I kept going.

“Are you ok?” he asked me.

“yeah, fine.” I kept kicking

Fourth round. I was gassed (tired).  That’s the problem with a firecracker. It doesn’t last long.

Then there were sit ups. And more sit ups. And leg lifts. And jumping jacks. Oh gosh, I can’t do those. Better work on those pesky pelvic floor muscles….  I must have looked rather silly standing there as everyone else jumped around me.  Well, they haven’t recently had a baby.

I drove home. Made dinner. My wrist was pretty sore, so I was doing things with my left hand.  I did the dishes.

“Maybe you should go to the e.r.” Aaron told me.

“No, I’d be there all night, and what if Danny wakes up hungry?” He won’t take a bottle.  It’s all booby, all the time.

I picked Daniel up, and he’s a little chubba, so that’s harder than it sounds.  At last check a couple weeks ago, he was 7.9kg, and only 5 months old. That really made my wrist hurt.

I took my watch off before bed.  There were marks where my watch had been. Like it was too small for me even though it usually slides around. There were angry red spotty bruises at the beginning of my wrist.  As soon as i took my watch off, the pain worstened.

“maybe you should go to the hospital.” Aaron told me again.

“Meh. I’ll go to the doctor tomorrow if it still hurts.”

I fed Daniel over night, picking his chubby self up again.  The pain was getting worse.

At some point I told Aaron he’d have to stay home and help so I could see a doctor. It was too painful to sleep anymore, so I got up and had a one handed shower.  I tried to do my hair, but how do you do that when you’re right handed and your right wrist hurts when you so much as twitch? I looked like some cats had a fight on my head, but that would have to do.

I called my doctors office. They weren’t open yet, but it seems my incessant ringing prompted the receptionists to pick up anyway.

“Hi, I hurt my wrist. I’m not sure if it’s broken. Should I go see my doctor, or do I have to go to the hospital?”

“It’s up to you, it may be quicker coming in and getting a referral for an x-ray then waiting in the e.r.”

So I went in.  I didn’t wait too long, I went to the ultrasound place and was seen straight away. I had to wait a couple hours for the results, so we went home and put Daniel down for his nap.

When we went back in, my doctor had gone home.  I saw his mom.

“Oh, I’m afraid it’s fractured.” She told me. Crap. ” How did you do it?”

“Blocking a kick at taekwondo.”

“I usually deal with ladies problems, so I’ll just go speak to Dr. Looi (aka, her husband) about this one.” I’m not gonna lie, I stifled a giggle there.

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“So you fell on your wrist?” She said when she came back.

Ummm….

I think I had to tell her 3 times what happened.

I called the hospital to make an appointment to get a cast. “Our first free time is Tuesday.” Yeah, great, that’s helpful.

Eventually, I found a GP clinic that does casts.

20 hours, and no pain killers after the “taekwondo is safe,” eat-my-words accident, I got my cast.

Now I just have to figure out how to take care of 2 kids with one hand for 6 weeks. And get Hannah to decorate it for me.

Unfortunately, it’s the height of summer, so no swimming for me. Fast forward 6 weeks and oh goodness, without being washed that whole time and sweating in 30-40c heat, my arm is going to reek. Ew.

Yep, taekwondo is perfectly safe. Humph

Things I’ve learned so far:

1. Husband is always right

2. It is entirely possible to drive a manual car with only my left hand.

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