Let Go

I know, I know. I've been so scarce lately. Summer is FLYING by. I knew it would. We've been so busy and it hasn't been easy finding the time to blog, plus we're having so much fun that I haven't tried that hard. Right now we're in the middle of vacation, and when we get home we'll be jumping right into our next adventure - hosting two Chinese exchange students.

We're doing the typical summer stuff. Going to parks and going swimming and having picnics and lots of sleepovers. Bethany had a week of basketball camp, Lucy had a week of Vacation Bible School. A little of this and a little of that. To add to our everyday chaos, Chris has started traveling some for work.

Bethany was invited to go camping with her friend's family for a whole week. We debated whether or not this would be a good idea. A week is a long time to be away from home at age 11. Plus the trip would be back to back with the vacation we had planned with my mother-in-law. But in the end we let her go. The campground they were going to was only about an hour away. Also I like to encourage independence, and allow my kids as many opportunities as possible - sometimes these include opportunities that we can't give them all on our own. I traveled with extended family and friends on several occasions as a kid, and I think being with other families is a great experience. So off she went, and I knew she was having a good time because she texted me on several occasions. Yay for cell phone service while camping.  All went well until the cell phone was dropped in the river (!!), but still the fun continued. Then on the last day she took a tumble off her bike, from the top of a gravel covered hill. Her friend fell first, at the bottom of the hill. Bethany saw her, panicked a little and tried to stop to avoid a collision, then down she went. Here is the picture I posted of her on my Facebook page:

Daughter + Bike = lots of bandages

You never actually think you're gong to get one of those phone calls, but nonetheless sometimes you do. Her friend's mom called from the urgent care center to tell me what happened, and to get Bethany's insurance info and get my permission to have Bethany treated. (Wouldn't you know they didn't take the insurance? Ugh!!) I was kind of in shock and it didn't sink in at first, but I got the most important part: the girls were fine, just badly scraped up. Chris was out the door within 5 minutes to pick her up, but her friend's mom thought it was important that she was treated right away, even without the insurance covering the visit. I appreciate her diligence, and it's probably a good thing we didn't wait to get her to a different urgent care center, because they got her cleaned up, pain medicated, and x-rayed in no time at all. I am thanking my lucky stars that Bethany had no broken bones, no head injury, and no need for stitches. Just lots of scrapes and bruises and gravel (OUCH!). The doctor prescribed an antibiotic as a precaution against possible infection.

Now that we're on vacation, Bethany is hating being bandaged up with pussing wounds while staying at a cottage less than a block from the beach. However, she is healing at an astounding rate, and I have reminded her a zillion times that she is SO LUCKY that her injuries were not worse. I'm even hopeful that she might (just maybe) get to go swimming in the lake before we head home on Saturday. Maybe I'm being too optimistic, but if we can just get some scabs on a few more scrapes...

So anyway, Bethany ended up coming home from camping a day early, which was just as well because she was able to spend a little time with Chris before we left (he isn't with us). She is still having pain and needing pain relievers at times, and hobbling along just a little bit. But since she first started crawling as a baby, there has been no stopping Bethany. The child just goes and goes and goes. This incident is no exception - a little fall of a bike will not keep her from doing anything. Except maybe going in the lake, and I've practically had to physically restrain her from doing that.

As a parent, it's hard to let go. Part of the reason it's so hard is because we're afraid of getting a phone call telling us our child has been hurt. It's scary to think of one of my kids having an accident or getting sick when they're away from us. But I also know that sickness and injuries can happen whether they are directly under our care or not. Now it's happened, my kid got hurt and I wasn't there. Luckily it turned out okay, but I know that next time it might be a little harder to let her go. But I still have to, because that is what being a parent is truly all about.