Appreciating My Kids

A happier day: December meeting

Thursday night, in an email to a friend, I shared that I never wanted children.  I love them, they have enriched my life, but they were never my idea.  Even as I wrote it, as I hesitated to hit "send", I wondered whether that was something that should be shared.  Doubts persisted even as I committed to my message.

The universe took notice.

I sent my email at 3:30am.  I went to bed around 5am.  At 6:40, my middle child heard her sister fall, found my oldest lying unconscious on the living room floor.

My middle girl sprang into action, waking my wife and I.  My wife initially was in a bit of a dither, pondering whether to call her sister (a nurse), or to call an ambulance.  Middle girl came in with the phone, asking if we should call 911.  Of course, of course.  Wife was unsure if our girl was breathing, though the heavy rasp left no doubt.  A little labored, but breathing regularly.  Still unresponsive though.

The ambulance arrived within 10 minutes, and they could not rouse her either.  Putting her onto a very cold board to carry her out started to wake her.  My wife rode in the ambulance with her, and she was heartened when our girl said, "Watch TV."  Now, that's normal.

We spent 10 hours in the ER, and our girl got gradually better.  A couple of barfs, a CAT scan of her head, an EEG.  Around 5:00, they decided that she had suffered a seizure.  Take her home, watch her.  It was her first seizure, and we hope her last.

Midday, we started hearing the news coverage coming out of Connecticut.  That a young man had shot and killed twenty children for no apparent reason.  Not that any reason would've warranted it.  A massive tragedy, and another reminder that my family has value to me.

Middle girl was the hero of the morning.  She thought more clearly in the pinch than her parents.  Before I left to follow the ambulance, I found her crying and tried to comfort her.  She had passed her driving test the day before and gotten her license.  Now she would have to drive herself to school.  After school, we had her running some errands for us in parts of town she doesn't know.  She got lost several times, and wound up in tears again.  She had a really tough day.

Her brother, who was out of school, was left to his own devices at home, and he managed to stay out of trouble.  So, another good kid.  We took the two of them out to eat in the evening, wanting to reward them for their fortitude during a crisis.

They both exceeded our expectations, revealing an untapped reservoir of responsibility.

I was bedraggled as the day ended.  We had gone to the hospital after I had slept for a little over an hour.  At 10pm, after dinner with the kids, I laid down in bed, and didn't rise again for 12 hours.

Lesson learned.  Appreciate the blessings in your life.