Learned my Lesson

I learned two valuable lessons today. The first I should have already know and the second, well, we do the best we can as parents.

The first lesson is to never ignore numbness and pain even if it is in your foot. I have been ignoring these symptoms for many months now. The symptoms aren't constant and I have sometimes gone months without any problems, but it has gotten much worse in the last few weeks. My breaking point came when I took Lilly and Ryan out for a stroll in our neighborhood and I didn't think I would be able to walk back to the house. I decided then that I should make an appointment to see my doctor. I went this morning and she took a quick look at my foot and told me that I have a neuroma, a Morton's neuroma to be exact. Such a dorky name for a thickening of the tissue around one of the nerves leading to the toes. I even felt like a dork as my doctor told me that this is "the largest neuroma that she has ever seen" and "I wish I had a camera so I could show it to one of my colleagues in Charleston." Great, I am a medical oddity. Next step is a visit with a specialist in a couple of weeks. My doctor said they might be able to do injections, but said that because it is so large surgery is probably in my future. Seriously, why did I ignore this? I am the one that gets very frustrated at people that wait all week with tooth pain and then show up demanding an appointment at 4pm on Thursday. I usually roll my eyes and think "Well, that's too bad. You should have called three days ago."

The second lesson that I learned today is to always listen and respond to your three year old when they come and say "Mommy. Come on. This way." I learned that you listen to this even if he has already said this to you a half dozen times within the last hour. I didn't not respond because just minutes before this Ryan and Lilly were playing with a basket in the laundry room. They were just steps from me, but out of my sight. I continued cleaning up the kitchen sink, but when I noticed that they were no longer laughing I decided to go take a peek. Brace yourself....my beautiful, sweet, 9 month old daughter was sitting in the middle of the bathroom floor playing with poop. How can this be? It takes me a few minutes to take all of this in and then I realize that Ryan has gone into the bathroom and attempted to potty on his own. I think I should be proud of his attempt, but I am horrified instead. For just a minute or so I'm trying to figure out what to do. I am a bit frantic in my actions. I get wipes and clean Lilly's hands. I check out Ryan to see if he's coverend in poop too. I try cleaning up the floor. All I am doing is making a big mess. The only solution and that's obvious now was to take them upstairs for a bath. Oh, and I used about a gallon of bleach on the bathroom.

It is easy to be wise after the event.--English Proverb