Find The Joy Fridays!

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.