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I figured I'd share a story from yesterday where I was able to laugh at my controlling/not trusting God kind of parenting things....
Yesterday, my son was out hiking and doing some photography with a friend he had met online. He was picking the guy up at his house across town and they were going to drive out together to the outskirts of town. I was out to dinner with my bf and his kids and a few of our neighbors and I wasn't feeling well. Migraine was coming on, my stomach was upset, and just generally feeling a bit under the weather. I texted my son to ask him how things were going. He said, 'OK, but trying to not get stung by bees, lol"........
I asked him another question and never heard back from him. An hour later and I'm starting to get frustrated and my momma bear hairs on the back of my neck stood up so I decided to do a 'find my iPhone' on him. Since I pay his phone bill still and his account is attached to mine, he knows I can access this app and 'find him'. Now, to be honest, I really don't do this obsessively or every day, even. When he traveled to Dallas with his tennis team for a week, I didn't even look once even though he only texted me every other day, haha! But, I felt like I should check last night.
SO, I look and I see his phone at a building at an intersection that I swore (YEP, SWORE.....) was a hospital. I knew the cross streets and the building had a drive up curved area with grass and covered entry way, etc. It could very well have been a hospital. I freaked out. I thought maybe he had been stung by these bees, broke a leg while hiking, or even been bit by a rattlesnake since he sees them all the time when he's hiking. It's my biggest fear!!! He doesn't pay attention when he's taking pictures and he has run into rattlers in the past.
Anyway, I rush my bf to pay the bill and announce to he and the kids, "My boy's at the hospital so I want to go and figure out what's going on since he hasn't responded to my texts." I told my bf to drop themselves off at home and that I'd head out to other part of town by myself since it was after 8 and his kids should be heading to bed sooner than later. He told me that we all were going, that we're family, and that there's no way in hell he was going to let me go by myself and that we would all go together. Which I found very sweet of him. But, then I looked at my phone again and expanded out the intersection of where my kid was.
He wasn't at the hospital, he was across the street at some other business. I had been looking at it with a different perspective and when I zoomed out I saw the hospital. You know, the building that has the huge X on the roof for helicopters to land? UGH.......And, then my son texted me and said, "Hey, sorry about the delay. I was getting ice cream with my new friend in Scottsdale and then I'm taking him home. I'll be home by 10."
Sooooo, I had to apologize to my bf and the girls. Told them I got all in a tizzy over nothing. Told the girls, "this is what a parental freak out looks like and I'm sorry to worry you guys." The girls just blew it off. My bf reached for my hand and squeezed it and just smiled at me. He knows the feeling of worry we all get as parents, no matter how old our kids are. I figured he would have teased me about it because honestly, I was thinking it was a perfect thing to tease me about since even i thought it was kind of funny!
This AM I'm still laying in bed at 9 AM. Not sure what I'm sick with.....just generally feeling exhausted and still have that migraine which Tylenol is doing nothing for at the moment. But, when my son wakes up I'm going to tell him what happened last night. He'll find it funny and it will be reminder to him to TEXT YOUR MOM when she texts you (unless you're driving of course!). So, there's my control issues at work. Funny, because we also had just been at church earlier in the day and my bf and I listened to our pastor preach about letting go of control and turning things over to God. HA......well, I guess I still have some lessons to learn then, don't i?
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Never grow a wishbone where your backbone ought to be!
Thanks, Andromeda. I love it when the "OMG, Yikes, OhNo!" is followed by a laugh, because our fear was just an illusion. The bad news, my kids are in their 30s and this never ends -- so I just need to have my program tools at the ready,
Great Share - and I too can relate....mine are 26 and 24 and yet when they don't respond to a text or phone call, there is a 'hummmm - should I panic or not' moment often/always... I often consider our parents who did not have the same technology that we did. When we were out and about, they had no choice but to have faith that all was well, until it wasn't. No mobile phones, no texting, no internet, nodda - just verbal exchanges and tons of faith.
Glad that all was/is well! I've run into 2 snakes on the golf course, neither poisonous at all but larger than I'd see in my yard! Both times, I do believe my heart stopped for a second/two. (((Hugs))) - snakes are so not my thing!!!
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Practice the PAUSE...Pause before judging. Pause before assuming. Pause before accusing. Pause whenever you are about to react harshly and you will avoid doing and saying things you will later regret. ~~~~ Lori Deschene
This gave me a chuckle. I have SO BEEN THERE! LOL! Yup, even used the Find My Friends APP. Of course, that was how I "caught" my son doing some nefarious stuff a couple years ago, so I do like that APP! Thankfully, I don't feel the need to check it like I used to. Only if he is on the Metro late and hasn't txted me back. I too, often consider my parents and how they just let us "fly!" Yes, I had to call when I got to a friend's house that they didn't know I was going to, but I was pretty darn free until my curfew. Ah, the good days!
I sure hope that you start feeling better! BTW, love you new Avatar!!!
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"The wolf that thrives, is the one you feed." - Cherokee legend
"Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields... Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness." Mary Oliver
Its so easy to go from nought to 100!! Glad it was all an innocent mistake. Sounds like because you were a little off form that you might have been a bit more vulnerable. Talking of technology making our lives easier/more stressful, I deactivated my Facebook account today - yeaaayyy!!!!
Posies, thank you! I couldn't decide which pic to use but my old avatar was 3 years old, lol. It was time to update.
And, ys, Faintly, I swear I should get rid of social media but my extended family really enjoys when I post pics, etc.
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Never grow a wishbone where your backbone ought to be!
