Laundry Helpers
One afternoon as I was folding the kids' laundry my daughter came in and asked if she could help. I fought the urge to sigh, knowing (as most parents do) that quite often the "help" just ends up making more work for me. But I smiled and thanked her as she excitedly handed me each article of clothing from the basket.
As soon as the rest of the clothes were put away, I sat down to fold the piles of socks and underwear that we had separated. Of course she sat right down with me, and decided that it was her job to fold her own underwear. Again I fought the urge to stop her, thinking that I was just going to have to refold it when she was done. But then I sat and watched her.
With her face set in serious concentration, she worked her little hands so carefully and methodically, doing her absolute best to fold each piece as I had shown her. And as she added each completed pair to her stack, I realized that it didn't matter in the slightest if her folds weren't exact, or if her stacks weren't perfect. Because, frankly, who cares if a four-year-old's underwear drawer isn't perfect?
It turned out to be a good lesson in patience for me, a good lesson in responsibility for her, and it actually did make less work for me in the end. Overall, it ended up being a definite win.
School Lunch
On Friday my daughter and I volunteered to help out with an event that was going on at my son's school. And since we were going to be there anyway, we decided to stay and have lunch together. It turned out to be a nice treat for all of us. My daughter got to eat in the school cafeteria like a big kid, and my son was obviously thrilled to have us there. And I just got to sit back and soak in the joy.
Late-Night Doctors
For some reason, my son has quite a knack for getting sick right at the start of a holiday weekend. The Friday night before Memorial Day he came down, quite suddenly, with a stomach flu. And this past week, right at the start of Labor Day weekend, he managed to get sick again. It's bad enough to get sick on a normal weekend, but a holiday weekend is even worse (partly because it ruins a perfectly good three day weekend, and partially because your doctor's office is going to be closed until Tuesday.)
He was fine all day Friday, but late in the evening he started complaining that "I don't really feel very good." By Saturday morning he had the telltale wheezing that said we were going to be in for several rounds of nebulizer treatments. Sometimes that's all it takes, but unfortunately not this time. Around 10pm Saturday night he woke up in obvious pain, holding his chest and screaming that he couldn't breathe. (In case you're wondering - yes, that's a very scary thing for a mom to hear from her six-year-old.)
It was clear at that point that he was going to need more than just the breathing treatments we had been giving him, and that we weren't going to be able to wait until Tuesday to see a doctor. Fortunately for us there is an overnight pediatric care facility not too far away. (It's almost an hour drive, but I guess "not too far" is relative. It beats the heck out of waiting three more days to see someone.)
And so, praise all things that are good in the universe, we were able to get him some help. After they administered some steroids and a few more breathing treatments, his frighteningly low oxygen level finally came back up to near-normal, and we were able to avoid an even scarier (and way more expensive and frustrating) trip to the ER. He still isn't back to full health yet, but he is obviously on his way to getting better. And for that, I am eternally thankful.
I shared mine - now it's your turn! Please feel free to share some of your recent LML moments. Focus on the happy thoughts, and let's all have a great week!
And if you're a blogger and would like to get in on the LML fun, feel free to grab the code and join the blog hop! Your post doesn't specifically have to use the "LML" label (although you're welcome to use it if you'd like.) But if you have any kind of happy, positive Monday message that you'd like to share you're welcome to join. The more happy vibes, the better the Monday!
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