A few things have happened recently that made me all the more aware that I'm probably officially a helicopter mom. I don't mean to be, but I guess that's probably what they all say right?
Sunday morning I made John his breakfast of some raisin toast and blueberries, and he only ate the blueberries. Usually I would hound him about eating the toast or eating something else, but I was distracted by getting everything ready for our road trip and the normal Sunday stuff that I forgot to mention it. About 9:30 am or so John came to me with this horribly distressed look and said "mom. my tummy hurts." I (of course) immediately thought "Oh no! I hope he's not getting sick" and then gave him a little kiss and went on. About 15 minutes later he said "mom. my tummy hurts really bad. right here," and pointed to his stomach. And then it hit me...John was hungry, but had no idea what that felt like. I gave him a toddler breakfast bar thing and he devoured it and asked for some cereal. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. My silly little boy had never been hungry before. On the one hand, I felt incredibly blessed that our family has food in the pantry because I know that is not a reality for so many people. On the other hand, I thought "well I'll be...my almost 2.5 year old son doesn't even know about hunger because I feed him every hour and half." Helicopter mom? Nah.
And then there was Friday. John started limping around again out of nowhere. He had a little limping episode in early December that lasted a few days and we just watched it without taking him to the doctor (well his doctor..the one we live with said he was fine), but this time I was worried sick so I called his doctor before Matt could tell me just to watch it and give him some ibuprofen. His doctor said he'd like to take a look, and he did. He said he was pretty sure his foot wasn't fractured and that he had just pulled a tendon in his ankle. He said we should give it a few days and then xray it if he's not improving. My oh my...all of this wait and see stuff is too much for me. We went home and I gave the ibuprofen religiously and never took my eyes off of John so I didn't miss any limp or grimace. Saturday he woke up complaining and by Saturday afternoon he was walking all over Disney World. I thought all was well, and then today he woke up complaining and refusing to walk again. What did this mama do? I consulted with dr. matt, dr. poppy, and john's real doctor and all three said that they were pretty certain that he just had a pulled tendon and that it would take some time for him to be back up and at em. What did I do? I insisted that he have an xray. Have I been to medical school? Nope. Do I have any knowledge whatsoever of the symptoms of a broken bone versus a pulled tendon? Nope. Was I confident that my baby was going to have his bones looked at come hell or high water? Yep. So I took him in for the xray...and who was right?! The doctors. The doctors were right. He does not have a fracture. He had some swelling around the joint and clearly has an aggravated ankle...like from a pulled tendon or sprain.
Uh oh. I think I'm a helicopter mom. I think I am sort of a hovering/always watching/always worrying kind of mom. Well shoot. In my defense, I did take this quiz online that said:
Your Score: 14/30
Nice job! You’ve found a good balance between being too hands-off and too involved. Encourage your child to make some easy confidence-building decisions like choosing what to have for dinner, or where to go for a playdate. Giving her a bit of freedom will benefit you both.
Before all the foot drama, I was going to do a keepin' it real about all of the things throughout my day that make my heart smile a bit. I feel like every time I get on some type of social media I'm bombarded with people who are mad about something or complaining in some way or another. It wears me down so I thought I would do an exercise on what I see throughout my day that just make me joyful.
So here goes...
Little shoes...big mess
Got my nails done for the first time in a llooonnnggg time. Just kept making me smile to see these purple nails.
My little secret...I've continued to cut John's hair despite the time that I totally botched it.
I'm getting better!
Texts like these from the hubs.
And that's it for that day...well that's the stuff that I had a camera to capture at least.
Sort of an all over the place post, but when your brain is swimming with packing lists, it's hard to stay focused.
Tomorrow John and I hit the road to Mississippi and will be joined by Matt on Friday. Say a quick prayer for sane and safe travels if you can!
And keep it real!