What's the deal with the bandages?

[CheeseburgerBackpack]

Did I miss something, or do we ever get an explanation for why Edith keeps her right forearm covered all the time (with bandages as a child, then gloves as a teen)? And why does her son wear them as well?

[Monica]

It's explained in one of the voiceovers early on that her great grandma Edie knits them for her every year, and they last just long enough until she gets another pair.

Her son wears a cast/bandages probably to imply that he's kind of a risk taker sort of like Calvin (the one on the swings who also had a cast on his leg)