I knew today would be broken up–doctor appointment with my daughter, Moms In Touch prayer meeting, webinar. But nothing happened as intended.
I took my 13-year-old daughter in for her routine sports physical. It was time for a couple of shots as well, the doctor said. After the second one, Christine slumped off the table and fell straight on her head.
After she rested some, drank juice and ate a couple of candy bars, we left. She insisted she could go back to school. I got her excused from P.E. and went home, expecting a call.
It came soon enough. She was nauseated, really felt bad. Took her home. Called doctor, reported symptoms, including tingling on one side of her body. “Take her to the ER,” they advised.
Thankfully, the hospital is 3 minutes from our house. Four hours later, we came home. CAT scan normal, just a head injury.
What’s unnerving is that one year ago to the day almost–on Labor Day weekend but a Saturday–I had a mini-stroke and was in the ER myself.
The point: You never know what might happen in a day. Even ordinary, “boring” days can be a gift, when you consider what “eventful” might mean. I wish today had been more “ordinary.”
One other thing. A day like today completely blew apart my “to do” list–things I wanted to accomplish. Too often, that is how I define a “successful” day.
But perhaps God intended other things for today. Things like being there when my daughter needed me. Anticipating her needs, helping her feel cared for when she was feeling weak and helpless … as God cares for us.
As Janet Penley says in our book, MotherStyles: Using Personality Type to Discover Your Parenting Strengths, “Forget the busyness models of success. Each of us needs to come up with our own yardstick for success in mothering and in life–one based on our values as a mother, a woman, and a person. One that honors the small, everyday, private, spontaneous, and inwardly signifcant acts of life. We need to give ourselves credit for things loike closeness to family and friends, fostering independence, helping others, making beauty, enjoying life, loving fully, showing kindsess, tenderness, and compassion. ”
Perhaps it was a “successful” day after all.
But I’m grateful, of course, that all seems to be well with my daughter.
If the rest of this holiday weekend is on the boring side, well–I won’t complain!