Asking for help...

Sometimes being a mom means realizing (and accepting) your limitations. For me, this week, that means letting others help me take care of Sage when I am sick. I am undergoing monthly IVIG to try to fix my immune system which causes me to be pretty sick for a few days following the infusion.

It is hard to let go of control and admit you can't handle something but sitting back and assessing yourself is part of being the best mom you can be. For instance, I have found that during the week following my treatment I have less tolerance for being touched, bounced on, wiggled on, tugged on, talked to and whined at.  These are all things that I gladly accept any other time, but during this time, they are very hard for me to handle.  It has to do with nausea, but the point is that if I am not at my best I am not being the best mom. I am less tolerant, less loving, less thoughtful of her needs, more self-absorbed, more self-ish. Instead of keeping her around during these days and trying to muscle through taking care of her myself I ask for help.

So this week I had great help from my aunt, my step-dad (papa), my friend, my 2nd mom, my friend again, my mom and step dad, and, finally, my husband. This tag team parenting saves me from being crabby with her, gives me much needed rest to make it through the awful week, and gives her the feeling that even if mommy isn't all the way on the ball today, she has back-up.

Asking for help is a win-win for us. And while in the past I would have seen it as weakness, today I understand it as the greater strength: putting my daughter's needs to be well cared-for above my prideful need to be the only one to care for her.

Namaste!
Emily

Emily A. Filmore
blog.withmychildseries.com
http://www.withmychildseries.com/