Yesterday I was on such an emotional high after passing the exam. After having such a nice lunch with my mom, I had big plans. I was going to go home and take a well-deserved nap. But instead I ran a few errands and came home to admire Ava's new clothes. I'm never home at 4pm to watch Oprah, but there have been shows of hers that I've DVR'd if I thought they looked interesting. I really had her on just for background noise, but found myself glued to the TV as I watched a woman named Brenda Slaby tell her story about accidentally leaving her 2 year old in the car for over 8 hours. Poor Cecilia died of heatstroke due to outside temperatures reaching 100 degrees that day. I bawled my eyes out for 45 minutes until it was time to pick up the boys.
Before having children, I couldn't understand how something like that happens. I thought it must take one crappy mom to "accidentally" leave their child in the car all day. Now that I'm a mom, I not only completely understand how it could happen, but I'm scared of how easily it could happen. Most mom's today have no choice but to work outside of the home to help support their family. We're expected to have a career, pull our own weight financially, maintain the house and take care of the kids. We're expected to be supermom! I don't know who decided the bar should be set so high, but they should be shot. I can't tell you how many times I've left the house only to return multiple times because I forgot the camera, or I forgot the diaper bag, or Jameson's sippy is still sitting on the counter, or I forgot to let the dogs back in the house.
My routine is what keeps me sane. Without it, I crumble and feel inadequate. Without it, I know that things are getting missed. Maybe it's crazy to rely so heavily on a routine but it's what I need to make sure that things get done. Brenda Slaby had to deviate from her normal routine the day her daughter died. My heart goes out to Brenda, her family and all the other moms out there trying to be Supermom. Keep your chin up ladies!
To read more about Brenda's story, click here.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
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2 comments:
Once, when Annike was about 5-weeks old, Lars accidently left her in the car for about 30-minutes. It was in the high-80's that day. He's a good daddy. It was an accident. Obviously, our little Annabeana is just fine, but it really shook him up.
Yes, you are so right. The bar is way to high. One good thing that has come from all of this is that Dad's are pitching in more than ever. This poor women, who is a good Mother, will live with this one mistake for the rest of her life. My heart breaks.
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