Mothering Through a Crisis

No one ever said being a mom was easy.

It’s a full-time job full of ups and downs and twists and turns. It much more of a rollercoaster ride than I could ever have imagined. And for most of the adventure of motherhood it’s enjoyable, even when you’re taking the good with the bad.

However sometimes you find yourself right in the middle of a situation you weren’t at all prepared for and have no expertise in. A situation that throws your family life into crisis faster than you can blink an eye.

It’s hard to know exactly how you’re going to feel or react to certain situations that come up throughout your child’s life. The easy, fun and happy moments are a lot easier to deal with and react to. The hard moments that are full of worry, anxiety and fear are definitely the ones that feel the most drawn out and inescapable.

It can feel like it might never end.

That seems obvious, but when you’re mothering through a crisis it can feel like you’re dealing with the crisis for days instead of minutes and weeks instead of days. As your child struggles you feel everything they’re feeling, but at a heightened level.

You want to fix it because that’s your job. You will for it to be set right if only for a moment to offer some relief to your child. You pray that it will end soon so life can return to a state of normal, whatever that means.

And yet sometimes there’s nothing you can do but push through and continue on despite the crisis. When you’re mothering through a crisis it can feel like you’re all alone. That what you and your child are going through is an isolated incident. It can feel like you’re the only ones going through something hard because well it’s your life and you’re living it everyday.

I’m here to tell you you’re not alone.

That there is some other mother out there going through their own crisis. There’s another mom watching their child struggle too. And yet there’s another mom out their muffling her sobs in the bathroom while dealing with something she feels is completely out of her grasp.

Here’s an excerpt from my post I’m sharing over at The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide. Read the rest of the post here.

A week an a half ago my 8 year old daughter came home from school sick. I thought it was a normal stomachache. Something that could be solved with toast, extra Disney movie tv time and snuggles from mom. But it was far from normal. My snuggles could do nothing for the struggle that lay ahead.

We spent the day together and went to pick up her sister from school. My oldest starting acting strange and was claiming she was having trouble breathing. She appeared normal so I continued on with our errands and was getting annoyed with her. She was being so dramatic.

Over the next hour I realized that something wasn’t right. My daughter was getting more and more agitated and her breathing was getting shallower. The next couple hours are a blur in my mind. At bedtime, what can only be described as a scene from a scary movie complete with writhing, shaking, hysterical crying and deep breathing, my oldest daughter had a full-blown panic attack.

Cue my moment to mother through a crisis.

To read more about mothering through crisis head over to The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide. Or to go straight to the post click here.