Since Monday was Panic Day, I took moment to reflect on some of the times in my life when I really did feel panicked.
- There was the time when my middle daughter was about 20 months old and broke her leg. She fell unremarkably off our ottoman,but landed with her leg awkwardly underneath her. It was not an obvious break, but when she cried for 45 solid minutes and not even offers of candy and popsicles could soothe her, I knew something was really wrong.
- Then there was the time that same child got lost at the zoo when she was 3. The whole incident probably lasted less than 2 minutes, but those were the longest 2 minutes of my life.
- There was another time when I panicked over this child. When she was 3-4, she went through a brief period in which she got frequent UTI's and when she got them, she got very sick very quickly. On one such occasion, she was running high fever and became almost unresponsive -not unconscious; it was just like she was staring right through me when I talked to her. I called the pediatrician's emergency number and they sent us to the ER at 8:00pm on a Saturday evening.
- I also remember my oldest daughter falling out of her crib as a toddler. I had put her down for a nap and, when I came downstairs, I told my husband that he needed to lower the crib mattress after she woke up. No sooner had those words left my mouth when we heard a KER-THUD immediately followed by her cries. She was fine, but that was the first time we, as new parents, truly felt panic.
Looking back at these instances, I realized that they all had a common thread (other than most of them being caused by my middle daughter - God bless her!). That theme was motherhood. There is nothing that can produce panic quite like the fierce love a mom has for her children combined with some sort of fear for the well-being of those children. The experiences I listed are, of course, specific to my experience as a mom, but there are some common panic inducing occurrences I think all moms can relate to.
- The first time your baby actually slept through the night when you rolled over, looked at the clock, and, realizing what time it was, thought that surely your child had died in his/her sleep because there was simply no other explanation for the lack of wakefulness.
- Being engrossed in a TV show, a book, and blog post - whatever - and suddenly realizing that the house is eerily quiet and you haven't seen the children in several minutes.
- Opening your child's backpack and finding a letter form the school informing you that there have been several cases of lice in your child's grade.
- Realizing it's your turn to be the snack mom exactly 12 minutes before the game/event/party is scheduled to begin.
- The additional realization that, in order to provide said snack, you have no choice but to take ALL your children into the grocery store with you.
- Seeing the President of the PTA heading in your direction with a sign up sheet, a pen, and an overly friendly smile.
- WebMD. I can't tell you how many times I have diagnosed a simple rash or sore throat as cancer or tuberculosis based on simply entering some symptoms into this "expert" site. Don't do it, moms! Just don't!
- Running out of coffee. Or wine. No explanation needed.
- Calculating the cost of your child(ren)'s college education. That doesn't make you panic? Here, let me help. According to collegedata.com, the average college tuition for one year at an in-state public university is $23,410. Multiply that times 4 years and, in my case, 3 children. Do you know how much money that is?!?!?! It's $280,920. If they choose a private school, double it. Ouch!!!
- I posted this on my Facebook page Monday:
If that does't make you panic for the future of our children and our country, I don't know what will!!!Tell me, what makes you panic??
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25 comments:
i agree about motherhood in general being a reason that I do get my fair share of panic. And by the way that pic of your daughter in her little cast made me want to reach through the computer and just hug her so! But seriously my worst fear is that my daughters would break a limb or need stitches. We have narrowly escaped both so far and fingers crossed it stays that way.
Well, that daughter is 10 now, but when sure was cute and cuddly! (She's still pretty cute, but won't be still long enough for cuddles!) It was one of those experiences I will never forget. Her leg wasn't obviously broken, but it was obvious that something was really wrong. Fortunately, it was during a weekday, so our pediatrician referred us to an orthopedic office rather than a trip to the ER, but I can still remember sitting in that office and seeing the x-ray results.
OH, I had forgotten about the baby sleeping through the night one! It is completely true! The number of times I have checked on a baby, scared to death that I was going to find him dead in his bed...My goodness we mothers torture ourselves!
Oh Lisa, I think your general panic list is worse than my own specific panics!! Well played!
Oh my GOSH I love love love this post!!! Your panic list is BRILLIANTLY TRUE!!! And that tweet? Are you kidding me? No no no no no......
Losing a child in a department store was mentioned a few times when I asked my Facebook followers! I remember when my daughter was younger (4-5 years old, she walked off and I couldn't find her for over 5 minutes (she was playing with the toys)...I had 5 store workers looking for her, I was beside myself! Even to this day, I panic if my daughter is out of my sight for too long.
Strippers? OMG! #5 was hilarious because we all know that isn't going to take 12 minutes. You're lucky to arrive by the time said snack is needed. #9 We need to move to another country.
Oh - for many years I had a bullhorn as my ringtone if the school called. We haven't had a landline for years and I wanted to make sure I didn't miss a call. Well the bullhorn made me panic, jump of furniture and scramble for my phone every time. Sometimes it was something stupid like reminding parents that Candy Man orders had come in and would be available for pickup after school until such & such time. Too bad the call just can come from the nurses office instead of one call fits all. But then I'd truly panic when I got a call. I have since changed my ringtone from the bullhorn.
We do don't we?!?!? We really should stop that!
Ha! Thanks!
Sadly, no, I am not kidding. Granted, it is a story my 7 year old told me, but she is not usually one to stretch the truth.
Recently my oldest (10) decided to take a walk without telling anyone. We were seriously within minutes of calling the police when she came home. When she realized how upset we were, she got really upset, too. It was awful!
Right?? I almost did give myself a real panic attack when I did the calculations. I knew it was expensive and that it is getting more expensive, but almost $300,000 is insane!
Yeah, a bullhorn ringtone would certainly induce panic!
I know where to send those girls to get awesome stripper names :) These ten things are perfect, Lisa. I forgot all about the snack mom task...thankfully we are beyond that! I panic when I get up in the morning and see Gwen's light is off. That means she overslept and the first hour of my day is going to pretty much suck.
Yes, that would induce panic! I still have to go around and wake all of mine up!
Strippers?? What the heck?
I agree with most of these. For the lice one, I'd substitute letter and lice for email and stomach bug. Ugh! And yes to the first time they sleep through the night, and yes to when it's eerily quiet. That's usually when.. no names mentioned.. you find them scooping dirty cat litter with their hands and throwing it in the dog's water bowl.
Good times.
Reading these just made my heart go pity pat a little bit. Especially the part about running out of coffee and wine. Egads! And the PTA lady! Great list!
I've panicked over so many things since becoming a mom! Any sign of sickness or pain in my son makes me very worried. I can imagine how you felt when your daughter's fracture happened :(
I can relate to so many of these! I lost my kid in IKEA once. Talk about a panic moment! :)
Ha! Another reason I don't do cats. :-) And, the stomach bug - yuck!!! That one should definitely be on the list!
Thanks!
The good news is that, when there really was an emergency, I remained calm. I'm sure you would, too!
I think that's the worst one. With all the horrible news stories we hear, our minds immediately go tot he worst case scenario.
OMG to the mom panic thing. I so sososo so get that. Too much, to be healthy I think!! I've worried about satelites falling on my head. For real.
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