Time for a new Strategy!?!

As the mom of two active and energetic boys, I’ve spent the last 9 years trying to prevent accidents and injuries. I’ve said “be careful” “slow down” and “pay attention” more times than I can count. Throughout lockdown, my #1 rule was: Have fun, and, please, no hospital visits!!

It became apparent three weeks ago that this strategy of being careful and going slow is not really working!!

While hiking as a family in the mountains, Sebi fell and somehow (still not entirely sure how) tore a huge gash in his leg. I mean a chainsaw/Halloween makeup looking hole!! Thankfully I was behind a bit and @Reinhard Waldinger was the one to pick him up, tie a pair of sweatpants around the wound and start carrying Sebi immediately down the mountain for help.  

By the time we met the ambulance at the trail head 40 minutes later, Sebi was calm and proudly reported to the paramedics that this was not his first time in their ambulance. He happily told the team he’d been to the hospital 4 times already and then casually proceeded to tell every nurse and doctor that he was a professional patient. Ugg!! As Mom, I had a small fear that someone might investigate for Child Protective Services, and a much larger fear that we’ll be in the hospital again. How could I keep my child safe and frankly...alive?!?

While waiting for him to come out of surgery, I thought long and hard about this...am I being too risky? Too lenient? Should I be more restrictive of their activities? Should I be more of a helicopter mom?

The day after we came out of hospital, I hiked back up to the place he fell looking for some sort of razor sharp rock that could have done something like this...there was NOTHING there except grass and flat rocks!!

And then I remembered...I broke my leg badly 18 months ago...it was also a ground level fall. I was not running or doing anything risky. I was going slow and paying attention and I slipped anyway. 

As I walked the path down again in silence, I realized these situations were very similar to something I discussed with my coach supervisor just a few weeks earlier...

I had asked @Kay Young if it would be ok for me to share some of our stories on LinkedIn and she had encouraged me to lean into and trust my own intuition about whether or not it would be ok. And then she asked me a key question:

What if you do make a mistake...how do you feel about your ability to address the issue?

I realized in an instant...I could handle it. Actually, one of my strengths is resilience....dealing with difficult situations.

Now I can clearly see my choice...I can:

A) Play it safe, avoid taking risks, and hold onto my fear of making mistakes. 

OR

B) Lean into my instincts, and trust my ability to handle the mistakes...to deal with the difficult situations. 

Even when playing it safe, shit happens. I still make mistakes and I always will, no matter how hard I try to avoid it!

AND, I have proven that I can handle the adversity...that is even perhaps when I shine brightest. 

I choose B! 

What about you? What do you choose?

PS: I will be enrolling in a First Aid course and taking a much larger Medical Kit with us from now on...better prepared to handle the adversity.  Have fun friends!!