Monday, June 20, 2011

Life Lessons




This past week has been an interesting adventure in juggling family, work, and a sick child. We had our first childhood surgery last week – Drama Queen had her tonsils and adenoids removed. She did wonderfully, while I was a nervous wreck. LOL I’ve learned a lot about myself and my daughter through this entire process. Here’s just a few things:




Photobucket



1. My daughter is growing before my eyes – literally and figuratively.

When the nurse measure her height, DQ had grown over 2 inches to hit 5 feet – I’m 5 feet… and devastated. With their father being 6’3”, I knew this day was coming. I just wasn’t prepared for it to be so soon.

She also found ways to manager her nervousness before surgery and the dreaded liquid meds after surgery (she HATES them!), without me prodding or guiding her. This sign of maturity makes me very proud, but I’ll also admit to a touch of sadness, too.

2. My daughter isn’t me – and that’s a good thing!

I’ve always had a difficult time with any kind of surgery, especially anesthesia. Nausea, vomiting, difficulty waking… yuck! But DQ had none of those issues, for which I’m very grateful. Better she be more like her daddy… at least in that area. :)

3. I’m a planner, but life happens.

I packed and planned for days ahead of this surgery, then realized late the night before that no one would be at the hospital with us. Just me, the hubby, and Little Man. But all the literature said parents would be allowed back into pre- and post-op. Nothing about minor siblings. So I frantically put out an email for Playfriends who might be available to help.

The next morning, despite the lateness of my request, Playground Monitor surprised me by showing up with her Kindle and lots of comfort. Though they did let us take LM back, it was wonderful to have someone to talk to and distract me while DQ was in the operating room!

Photobucket

4. I’m getting better about letting other people be responsible for stuff.

Since taking on a day job, I’ve had to accept that I can’t be available for everything, especially this summer when the kids are often with a sitter. I never imagined leaving my child the day after surgery, but my husband already had that day off and there wasn’t a logical reason to use up a vacation day. This went against my motherly instincts, but I hugged her twice and left her with daddy.

You know what? She was perfectly fine. He gave her food and meds while they watched movies and he did laundry. And that’s a wonderful thing!

This balancing act I have going on is far from easy, but it becomes easier as I grow and learn and trust those in my life to love and support me. So tell me, when was the last time life taught you some positive lessons?

Angel

7 comments:

Cheryl said...

So glad DQ is okay!!! Plenty of ice cream mom!!!

Life taught me some hard lessons but recently I learned one that seems to be the most valuable - Always be yourself, no matter the circumstances. I guess it's "To thine own self be True." Wise words.

Problem Child said...

DQ will me taller than me, too, at this rate.

Glad it all went well. Sorry I couldn't be there.

Andrea Laurence AKA Smarty Pants said...

I think finally selling was an important lesson for me (and should be a good lesson for all writers struggling to be published).

You just have to keep at it. Keep writing. Keep growing. Keep learning about your craft and yourself as a writer. Eventually it will happen. Maybe not on your timetable, but it will happen. You're guaranteed to fail if you quit.

LeaAnnS said...

It was a major shock for me to discover last week that my daughter had grown 5 inches in the past ten months and was now my height (and taller than Angel). Very weird!

The older I get, the more I'm learning to give myself a break. I'm trying to remember that I don't have to do everything at once - sort of "slow and steady wins the race." Everything will get done in its own time, even if that time is not right this minute. Can't say I've definitely learned it, but I'm working on it. :)

Playground Monitor said...

I was happy to help out. You guys have been there for me.

With two boys I expected to be surpassed in height. Remember that tall kids are very handy when it comes to fetching things from the top cabinets in the kitchen. ;-)

Angel said...

You know, ice cream hasn't been high on her list of wants. But macaroni and cheese has. :)

Yep, these tall kids! God love us. That's why I established my authority early on. I figure I'll need it. :)

Angel

Stephanie Jones AKA Alicia Hunter Pace said...

I think it is great that DQ is growing up and that your family was all pitching in during this time!

It seems that I learn something positive everyday, like to value friends like PM who will show up with surprise comfort!