As a mom I have learned not to base my self esteem on what my kids say. Sometimes they say things that are great and other times not so great (although usually pretty funny). This week is a good example of both.
Monday evening after a long day in the ER for me, I was sharing some general things about a sick patient that I had taken care of during dinner that night. Leighton very thoughtfully said “Mommy, you know what your patient needed?” Not having any idea where he was going, I asked him “what?” To which he matter-of-factly replied, “A helicopter.” Intrigued I asked him, “Oh, a helicopter, why did my patient need that?” He answered, “Because there is a doctor’s office in the back of the helicopter and they can take care of the patient.” Don’t mind the fact that I am a doctor and he was in my Emergency Room and I was already taking care of him, but at least my son thought helicopters were way better than mommy. In no way did I take any offense to his comment however; I love how his little mind works.
Today it was the other way. I’m training for my first sprint triathlon which is in a little over a week. It has been an adventure; I didn’t learn how to ride a bike until just a few years ago. I have ridden more this summer than I have in my entire life, and my knees look like those of a 10 year old boy’s, full of scrapes and scabs (yeah so still not a great biker). But I’m forging ahead and today practiced my transitions. For those of you new or unfamiliar with the triathlon world, transitions are where you go from swimming to biking and from the biking to running and all the gear/equipment/clothes changes that go with that. I’ve gone to a couple lectures on how to do it, so today I put it all in practice. For anyone considering triathlons as a sport, don’t do it if you are at all concerned with fashion. While as individual sports, running/biking/swimming one can do it and look quite fashionable, when you throw all three together the fashion drops way way down. So there I was standing in the middle of our driveway with my transition zone all set up and wearing my skin tight tri suit covered by a full body sleeveless wet suite, with a swim cap and goggles on. Honestly I looked like a complete dork, and even more so when I practiced running up the side walk while attempting to get out of the wet suit and get my shoes and bike helmet on. However Leighton said “mommy, you look like a Super Hero”. While I didn’t look any better, I felt a million times better.
I love what my boys say, some things I laugh about, some things make me smile, and some things touch my heart deeply. I pray that the my ears are always open to hear their little thoughts and more than being a Super Hero they know that their mommy loves them, even if she is not as good as a helicopter.
Don’t forget to check out Clint’s blog at http://www.amorningcalm.com I love his post about making pancakes!
Hiking Mommy 