My First Day Without Kids... "Too Far From The Heart"

This is Day 1 of my first time without kids in 6 years. I miss them like crazy. It is so quiet with no kids in the house. I have to admit that I enjoyed sleeping in today. Hubby and I watched a silly movie before we got out of bed at 10:15 am (it has been a while since I have been this lazy-- and not a kid show).

We went to church, then we went on a bike ride. Hubby has been riding his bike to get his knee stronger after surgery.

We decided to take Marshmallow so she could get some exercise. She got a lot of exercise at the ranch, so I think she needs more than a walk these days.

I was holding her leash while riding, and it was going great until she saw a squirrel and came to a screeeeeee...ching stop. This made my bike crash, and helmet cracked and fell off, and I have big scrapes on my elbow and knee. You would have laughed at me, lying on the ground after such a wild crash. John doesn't believe that the dog had anything to do with my crash. I admit I have had a history with clumsy accidents of all sorts, but I swear that the dog saw a squirrel and put on her brakes, which sent me flying! Thank goodness for the helmet... it ended up with a crack, but that could have been my head, and I need all of the brains I have left to function in this crazy life! All is well though, so I am using the need to nurse my road rash as my excuse to relax this afternoon. I promise Mom, that I will get to work tomorrow... really, I will.

I learned as a child to be tough. My dad is the toughest of souls. He rarely seeks medical treatment for anything. He coined the phrase "Too far from the heart", which he would say sympathetically when we injured ourselves as children. This would then make us cry and stick our lip out, then he would make fun of us for sticking our lip out, saying something like "if you stick out that lip any more, you might step on it". Then, he would say "wait, let me catch those tears", and he would try to catch our tears in his handkerchief.

It isn't the model we read about in parenting books, but it has made me rather tough in the end -- a trait that probably helps me since I am rather clumsy. Also, many days in my world bring some amount of pain to my body, and with kids, there is no time for sympathy for me. When I was in pre-term labor with the twins 6 weeks early, I was 7cm dilated and thought it was going to be false labor... so much so that I wanted to take a shower before going to the hospital at 5am,
so that I would not be late for my 8am meeting with a disgruntled manager at work. The twins were born at 6:30am, so thankfully, John talked me out of that shower!

I think I do have a high tolerance for pain, and maybe my dad is the one who deserves credit for this. My hubby is also not the most sympathetic of souls, so maybe in part it is a male thing. I was raised to be tough though, so I can handle more than most. I may need this strength in this life!

Unfortunately, this motto has not served my dear dad too well. He has ignored some warning signs when it was too close to the heart, and is suffering the consequences as he ages. I will try to remember that and not take this philosophy too far!