In the world of blogging we’ve created some “days”, some prompts if you will, to spur on our writing, give us a theme, get us thinking as we sit at those keyboards with kids screaming in the background and the coffee that we’ve microwaved three times in an effort to remain caffeinated. We have Travel Tuesdays, Wordless Wednesdays, even Throwback Thursdays, but what about Fridays? Doesn’t Friday deserve some kind of special title? (clearly Monday does not deserve any more attention than it already gets, so let’s not go there.) So today for the first time ever I bring to you, Find The Joy Fridays, in my own sassy style of course!
Life in the suburbs isn’t always easy and there can be a lot to grumble about, the trick I think, to find that silver lining. To find the little joy in the every day. To look past the truly horrible day and find the one strand of happy. Today I will tell you how I took my horrible crappy week which included two trips to the Emergency Room and one urgent care visit in five days and managed to find a bright spot with my BlueEyed girl.
At 9:30pm on Sunday night my 15 year old daughter arrived home from Cheerleading practice with tears welling up in her eyes and cradling her right arm. I knew right away we had a problem. She’s an ex-gymnast, normally proud of her bumps and bruises, this had to be bad. Off to the ER where the fun began. How do you have fun in the ER? It’s not easy, but here is where I decided I had to find some joy. This was a teachable moment, an opportunity to truly show off my mad skill of avoiding germs and pass off my lessons on how to survive a trip to the ER.
Step 1) Don’t touch anything. Like ever.
Step 2) Play your own game rip roaring game of ER Triage. This is important as you wait your turn to enter the coveted “back section”; where they hide the Doctors. You must strategically pick whom you will sit next to. Man with a cut on his finger. Safe bet. Girl with no personal boundaries telling everyone she has another damn bladder infection. Safe bet. Woman rocking back and forth with a puke bag in her hand. Avoid, AVOID!
Step 3) Yes, stay hydrated with that bottle of water you brought with you. NO do not accept a cookie from the guy who brought Starbucks, Subway Sub and cookies into the Emergency Room! Stranger danger and GROSS!
Step 4) When you finally do get to see the Doctor be sure to get all your questions answered fast. These Doctor people are on the move.
Step 5) Wipe down everything when you leave! Wash your hands, wipe down your phone with a Lysol wipe. Don’t worry, your phone can handle it!
As you leave, with an ugly sprain, a big old half cast and a note for follow up, say a little prayer for your healthy child and that you have access to an amazing medical system. Where is the joy in all of this? We found smiles, giggles where we could. I let, no, I made my daughter laugh at me, because she needed it. (and I did too) If nothing else this week with two trips to the Emergency Room (the second trip due to swelling of that wrist and excruciating pain) and a follow up at a Sports Medical Clinic, my BlueEyed girl will never forget this week or that I was there for her. If she ever has to do an Emergency trip on her own, maybe I passed on a little bit of something, a memory, a skill, that will make her smile and help her get through. Maybe she will be able to find a little joy.
When all is done your daughter needs a smile , hug and kiss from mom.
Good job getting through what could’ve been a “traumatic” event with smiles and laughter. Seeing the silver lining – your child is healthy – is so important today. We tend to make mountains out of molehills.
ER it’s not the place you want to be, as long it’s not a serious case that’s all matters. I’m glad that your daughter is ok.
ER triage Game. Yep! Been there, I’ve called the office instead in some cases claiming it would be better for my “young” child no to see all the things one sees on the way to the ER rooms. It worked! got one glued up in office with a NP vs having to sit for hours!
Sometimes it’s hard to find anything positive about a crappy day but it sounds like you did!
Brilliant! As someone who worked at a few different clinics and some hospitals I completely concur! Some people would think we are “over-reacting” but guess what? Talk to me when you’ve contracted an exceedingly rare case of Tuberculosis, Ebola, or goodness knows what from touching surfaces of the subway, any public mall, etc. You are totally right because just keep in mind the appalling stats of doctors or other clinic/hospital staff who do not wash their hands properly.
Oh no, I’m sorry to hear about her arm. Hope she heals quickly. I am with you 100% with all the germ stuff. I’ve been seeing a lot of doctor’s lately and I cringe when I see people picking up the magazines to read. I don’t touch anything!!!
You just brought tears yo my eyes with this post. You are a wonderful mother,, we all do what we have to but I am sure she learned a great lesson from you
Poor girl! Hope she mends quickly.
Hope she has a full and speedy recovery! and ick who would bring anything to eat into an emergency room?
Aww poor girl! I know how painful sprains can be! It’s great you found ways to pass the time and take her mind off of it.
I too avoid going to the hospital whenever I can. This is where all the germs and viruses are. I also carry wipes and avoid others in emergency room. You can call me antisocial or germaphobic because Im OK with that
I love your Emergency AVOID list! Love the cookies point. LOL!
Good for you, turning what could be a long boring night into something else. Hopefully she feels a lot better soon!
At least you managed to smile 🙂 Hope your blue-eyed girls arm feels better soon.