A Mom First

I had great goals for today. I was going to take my fitness test, time my mile and take body measurements.

First up on my family schedule was a church event for the children. I helped flip pancakes while they got to play with their friends and get to know their teachers better. It was a great morning and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

We stopped by the grocery store on the way home and everything was still running smoothly. I fed the kids and had a small snack. I needed to run to one more store, so I took care of that 20 minute errand.

When I got home, my plan was to get my exercise in before my husband got home from work around 6:00. I was behind on my steps by about 2,000 and I really wanted to get caught up and mostly finished before the evening craziness set in.

Little did I know.

My son has this crazy stomach thing that has happened once before. He is fine one minute and then in unbelievable pain the next. There is no warning, no reason that we can find and it's just plan awful. He screams and screams and weeps in pain. His chin quivers and his body shakes. It's so devastatingly sad.

He started having pain around 3:00. I held him in his bed for about 90 minutes and just couldn't take it any more. I called our wonderful pediatrician on a Saturday afternoon and they called me right back. We went through the symptoms, discussed options and decided that a bath was the first step. If a bath didn't cure him, then a trip to the ER was necessary.

I put him in the bath at roughly 4:50.

I should note that my wonderful daughter was mini-Mom. She was getting medicine, thermometers, blankets, comfort items and got the bath ready to go. She's my hero in so many ways!

I digress.

We got him into the tub and he just held completely still, curled up and rigid. He wouldn't move for fear that the pain would get worse. The bathtub water was so still that he noticed if he took a deep breath it caused ripples on the surface. My heart was just breaking for the poor little guy.

After about 20 minutes in the tub he started to relax a little. At about 40 minutes, he had stretched his body out was was starting to move around. By about 50 minutes in the warm water he was playing with bath toys and humming tunes.

Thank the heavens and the wonderful doctor who suggested a bath! No trip to the ER today!

He stayed in the bath and played for over two hours. He said he was comfortable, warm and that his tummy didn't hurt so he wasn't going to risk getting out until he was sure it was OK. Oh, and he discovered fart bubbles. Gross, but too funny not to share. He was very excited about the bubbles. Eventually he got out because the water was cold and he was hungry.

He had a waffle for dinner and came downstairs with me to watch me punch the bag for a while. At this point I had abandoned all my grand plans for the day, and was just hoping to get in about 10 minutes of punching and then reach 16,000 steps instead of the 20,000 I had planned.

Drama again.

John hurt his hand on the bag when taking turns punching. He got a couple of rug burns. After the earlier ordeal, he's just exhausted, so it sent him over the edge. He couldn't stop crying.

I took him upstairs to snuggle in the big rocking chair. We were finally to the laughing stage of recovery and I asked if I could feel his loose tooth.

"Sure!" he said.

I wiggled the tooth. He giggled.

I said, "Pretty soon you're going to be talking and that tooth is going to fly out and hit me in the glasses."

He said, "Like this?" and pushed his teeth against one another. It made his whole mouth fill with blood. The poor kid. He was so upset. His dad came over and within 2 minutes had the tooth out.

My son wouldn't let me go. He was clinging to me like a lifeline. The poor little boy had had it!

He was excited that the tooth was out, it didn't hurt and he's glad to have it gone. But I think all the turmoil of the day was simply just too much. He was toast. He asked me to go snuggle him in his bed. So, of course I did. We enjoyed our time together and it helped him calm down enough that he was able to go right to sleep.

What's my point of this rambling story? Well, it's this -- I'm a mother first. My kids are so much more important than one workout. Sure, I need to take care of myself and my family is really great about giving me time to do that. But, today my son needed me. He wanted a million hugs. I will never pass up the chance to get a hug from him. He is the most snugly, comforting and adorable boy I have ever met, and if he wants love I will drop everything to give it to him. That's what has happened today -- that boy got as much love as I was able to give.

I can workout on Monday.