If you read my last blog, you know that my husband and I recently went on a vacation alone to celebrate our anniversary. We hung out by the pool, relaxed and really enjoyed quality time together but it wasn’t without incident. A day into our trip, we got a text from our dear friends asking if our daughter has a normal reaction to bug bites. I didn’t know what that meant and asked her to text a picture. To my dismay, our daughter’s forehead was very swollen. Our daughter has had some funky skin issues a few times in her short year and a half life. I’ve even taken her to a dermatologist when her pediatrician needed a second opinion on what something was. (I thought the dermatologist was reserved for the teen years. 😕)
After my husband and I wracked our brains trying to recall what happened the other time her forehead had swelled, not as severely as this incident, we gave our friends some instructions on what to do and decided to check in later that evening. Later that day, with no real change in her condition, we had our friend take her to urgent care. I wasn’t really nervous per se’ because I knew that our daughter was in good hands with our friend, a mother of 4, but I wanted to make sure she was alright. The conclusion of this story is that my daughter did have a severe reaction to bug bites and after some antibiotics, her swelling is gone. She is back to normal.
The whole ordeal left me with two thoughts. Number 1: Parenting doesn’t stop just because you aren’t with your child. I still had to make decisions in my daughter’s best interest even though she wasn’t in my presence. Whether it’s date night or I get a break from my children to have a girls night or something separate from them, I will always be their mother and responsible for them.
Number 2: It is so important to have a support system in place when raising children. Not just when you want to go on vacation without them but people that believe in you, your children and support your family. While we were away on vacation, I debated leaving several days early to be with my daughter. I knew she was fine but that was the mom in me wanting to take care of her and make sure that she was okay. As the saying goes: “It takes a village to raise a child.”. I want my “village” to be full of people that care for my family and help me raise my children in a loving way, helping shape their worldview.
Like I said in the last blog, I am very fortunate to have family and close friends nearby that help foster this but even if a family is away from their family, I still believe that this can be achieved. My first recommendation would be to get involved somewhere. Aside from my blood relatives, my church has been my family’s biggest cheerleaders. Giving them encouraging words, babysitting my children at times and praying for my family. I could not ask for a better group of people to be involved with my children. Back in the day when my son was an only child, I constantly took him to story times and one of my good friends came from that season of life. I also joined a mom’s group last year that uplifts other mothers with faith, encouraging words, speakers, crafts, and breakfast.😍 All of that to say, reach out. Create a community all your own! It’s worth it.