7 Quick Takes, One Day Late

1.  The past two weeks have been....eventful.  On Thursday of last week, our septic tank began acting up, resulting in an emergency call to Roto-rooter.  Without going into detail, I was happy to fork over the equivalent of two car payments to eliminate the problem.

2. On that Saturday, there was a flash flood resulting in the need to do immediate triage to the home.  Two of the middles were dispatched to keep an eye on everyone younger (they were all in bed) and to report if there was a problem.  Two teens were in the basement, catching water in bins, dumping it down the shower drain and putting down towels.  My 20 year old was in the pit where the water had filled up, bailing.  My three days from being 14 year old and I rotated carrying away buckets from the pit, and  my husband lugged the giant Recycling bin we would fill up away to empty.  It was an efficient system considering we were in pitch black conditions, there was lightning, and the pit was so full, my 5'7'' son could float.  Not fun.

3.  Tuesday my son turned 14! We celebrated at the pool until it closed.

4.  Wednesday I drove Peter to the airport for a two week stay at his grandparents.  I know he was excited!
5.  Friday.  I was so looking forward to Friday.  It would be the last day of summer school, so our schedules would calm down.   My 6 year old was on the playground at the school.  She fell off the monkey bars.  This is the fifth injury from monkey bars in my family.  I have issued a family wide ban on monkey bars that is to be enforced in perpetuity.  

It happened at noon. She cried a bit, she got in the car.  She was quiet, but she IS quiet by nature.  We got her sister from her high school and went home to eat lunch. She finishes and goes to watch a movie with her sisters.  My 11 year old  pops a wire on her braces.  We call the orthodontist who can see her if I can get to them in the next 40 minutes. (Before 2)  Back in the car and across town, we get her taken care of and return home.  It took five minutes!  I'm thinking, the day is still salvageable.  There are two chickens to roast...I am mentally planning dinner.  I get in the house.  Regina is lying on the couch.  She is still.  The Mom radar goes up.  "Too still." my head says.  I ask her what is wrong.  "My arm still hurts." We had focused on her back where there were scrapes and she said her elbow hurt when we first examined her at the school but she could move it, wiggle her fingers, there was no swelling.  I thought her stillness was due to having the wind knocked out of her.  The teacher saw everything and there were collaborative reports that she landed on her back.  It had just happened when I pulled up for pick up.

Upon second examination, I discover it is more serious.  What she wouldn't do, is lift her arm up above as if to raise her hand.  Off at 3 o'clock we go to the pediatrician's.  Which means we go to the radiologist for x-rays.  Which leads to a discovery.  When the radiologist GIVES YOU THE PICTURES, it means it's broken.   Back to the doctor's where the nurse explains this silent protocol.  They send me to the emergency room.  Thankfully these three offices are adjacent to each other, or it would have been a cosmic version of the shell game with me and my daughter as the ball.   They gave her some Motrin and a sling.  It cannot be cast because the break is high.  The orthopedic pediatrician happened to be there and came in to look at the x-rays and explain, she'd be fine in four weeks, and have forgotten she broke her arm in two and to make an appointment for next week.   I fretted and worried except she was in good spirits. That may have been the cherry Popsicle talking.   We got in the car to go home.  I flipped on the radio.  My daughter began singing along.  Really.  She just broke her arm and here she is, belting out Pink.

"We're not broken, we're bent...and we can learn to love again!" she's warbling with a full heart.  Yes, I felt awe and tears at her matter of fact spirit.

When we got home, her 17 year old sister came out.  "Regina??? You broke your arm?  And you didn't even cry?  That's hard core."  She obtained instant celebrity status in the family, complete with homemade ice cream, drawings and a my little pony marathon for the movie selection that evening.

6.  Marcel LeJeune wrote a great post that deserves notice. He discusses the social phenomena of FOMO.  FOMO (Fear of missing out), is part of what drives YOLO.  If You only live once, every second counts.  But how?  And more importantly Why?  FOMO is driven by the fear that somehow, we are letting life slip by without experiencing it.  The reality is FOMO and YOLO are both ways of spending life without turning it outside of one's self.  FOMO and YOLO never get you to the why the seconds count or the how, they only focus on how important it is to be "Living" and "Not missing out."
    Both are variants (external and internal) of the same haunting fear that life lacks meaning unless it is ascribable in a status update or twitter instantly recognizable to others as innately worthy.  If every experience in life is not hyper charged with meaning and import, not jam packed with euphoria or coolness, it is not a day seized. This is not living, it is hyperventilating on life, mistaking only the roller coaster highs as being life worthy, and not recognizing the steady rhythm of every day and the slower moments have infinite beauty and worth as well.  It is a pernicious addiction to feeling that will lead to greater and greater risks and fewer pay offs and eventual despair as all of life not spent red bulling the world, will seem as if it is a waste, and the need for stimulation will become a quest unto itself that never satisfies, because the epic feelings based on experiences (not people) cannot last.

7.   In final thoughts on Friday, I did also make it to confession.  My 11 year old at the end of it all said, "Wow Mom, you really seized the day."  I countered.  "I think the day seized me."  We laughed.