Mom Malpractice
When I became a mother, Mom told me my life would never be my own again. She was right, and it has been a most amazing, life-changing journey.
and the lessons I'd learn....
It was one of those long
nights with a sick child. By the time my 16-month-old daughter finally went to
sleep, I collapsed in bed exhausted. But I’d inadvertently left the cap off a
nearly empty bottle of children’s chewable Tylenol pills.
As fate would have
it, this was also the night my child learned how to climb out of her crib. Not
quite satisfied with that jail break, she toddled into the kitchen, spied the
bottle of Tylenol on the counter, pushed a chair over and climbed up.
She woke me a few minutes
later babbling about an empty bottle. A frantic call to the poison control
center followed. All was fine. But it was a clear case of mom malpractice.
My son, born 7 years later,
had a much wiser mom in many ways. However, one time while walking alongside
the pool watching my daughter’s synchronized swimming routine, my squirmy son
managed to extricate himself from the stroller—in mere seconds.
I ran and grabbed
him before he fell into the pool. More evidence against me.
My mom malpractice case deepened in my kid’s teen years. Harsh words that I shouldn’t have said, and not nearly enough of the supportive and encouraging words that could have gone so much further. Such avoidable Mom malpractice.
Thankfully God protected my
kids from physical harm while giving them big enough hearts to forgive me and
heal from mental injustices along the way.
Mom malpractice is just part of my
journey. Time, along with an ample supply of God’s grace, helped me become a better mom.
I’ve learned so much from my kids—about life being less about me, and more about others. As adults, they continue to teach me—using their own life experiences and passions. Now, as a very special gift by God’s design, I have a second chance at motherhood—as a grandma!
Happy Mother’s Day!
I’ve learned so much from my kids—about life being less about me, and more about others. As adults, they continue to teach me—using their own life experiences and passions. Now, as a very special gift by God’s design, I have a second chance at motherhood—as a grandma!
“Grace holds you when everything else
falls apart — and whispers that
everything is really falling together.” Ann Voskamp