Tuesday, January 27, 2009

What would you do?

Scenario #1:
You're at the YMCA. Your daughter, Anna, is playing "gymnastics" in the tunnel room (room with tunnels and slides for kids). Suddenly she falls down and is shrieking that her foot hurts. She has that "I'm REALLY hurt" cry - the one that makes you move faster than you knew possible. I carry her over to the seats and ascertain for any damages - that a non-doctor can see, anyhow. You comfort her and call your husband asking him to come and perhaps take her to the doctor. During the 30 minute wait, you start wondering how "hurt" she is - there aren't any bruises or swelling or any indication of anything wrong. Hmmm. You finally figure out that while there was initial pain in her foot - she is 99% okay at this point, but she is hamming it up for all the attention - something she's been doing since we adopted the twins. What do you do? Do you play along? Do you call her on it? What would you do?

Scenario #2. This coming summer there is a BIG family reunion in June. There is also a potential temple sealing (for my brother Evan & Shelbee) in July or August. PLUS - we're going to be going to OK for Christmas in December. And then today my husband announces a free 3 day trip (his flight + hotel room) in Key West, FL, in April for his work. With our finances being tight already, we have planned to go to OK in December - but what about these other trips? What would your priorities be? I, of course, want to go to ALL the activities this year - but when you're poor, what do you choose? I'd love to see all my extended family and introduce our new twins to them. I'd love to see my brother marry his sweetheart in the Temple. I'd also like to spend some alone time with my eternal companion in FL. What would you do?

9 comments:

Melisa said...

#1 - oooooo, wow. I wouldn't waste my money taking her to a doctor. I'd probably try to distract first. Say, "wow that (insert activity) looks super fun! show me how you do it!" to see if they really were hurt. And if they say, "oh ow! I can't my foot is dying!" then I tell them to sit still with ice on it until they feel better. Then I ignore them and let them relax. Eventually they'll get bored and want to go play again. If they are still "dying" consider that it could be serious.

#2 - For me personally, I wouldn't miss my sibling's wedding for anything. That would be my top priority. I was able to bring my family for 1, but for the other 2, I literally flew in one day and out the next. I couldn't stay long, but I couldn't and wouldn't miss it. I'm flying to NM for another wedding this summer too. Not sure how I'm going to make it work since Brad can't take vacation, but I'll figure it out...

Jana said...

Okay, my two cents, for what its worth. K did the same thing at the YMCA, except it was her arm. About 5 minutes after it happened, she was fine. I decided to go ahead and take her to the ER, just in case. THey sent us for X-rays. While waiting in the waiting room, she was all over the place, climbing on the chairs, etc. I thought for sure they were going to send me home thinking that I was the crazy lady who is paranoid about everything. But, as soon as I was about to get up and walk out, they called us back. Turns out, it was broken. Both bones in her arm. Now I know she is much younger than Anna, but it is a possibility that she really could be hurt. I guess my advice to you is to use your gut instinct. My sister broke her arm, and it was broken for a week or so before my mom took her to the doc b/c she wasn't sure that anything was really wrong. It wouldn't hurt to wait either.

Good luck!

Oh, and I think I would do Christmas for sure and maybe the sealing second. But, probably not a trip to FL or to the family reunion. Just what I would do.

Sarah C said...

I am sorry Anna got hurt today. I am sure she is having a hard time adjusting to all the changes in her life. You are doing a great job balancing everything. I think if I were in that situation I would put ice on it, kiss it better, wait about ten minutes, and then see how she was doing.

I think you should drive to OK in June for the family reunion and then stay there until after the wedding. That way you can go to both family events in one trip. Tyler could drive both ways with you and just purchase one round trip ticket from OK to make it to both events. That would save you a lot of money and still allow your whole family to be at the wedding and the reunion. Your relatives would love the extra time with you anyway. You know that's what I would do. :) Maybe for your Christmas trip, you could ask everyone that would normally spend money on gifts for your family to use that money toward your travel expenses. I would rather be with family for the holidays than recieve gifts. Being with family is the best gift of all, especially since you are planning to do Anna's baptism, and Keith and Kristina's blessing and sealing. You need to be with family for that. As far as the Florida trip goes, it sounds fun. I hope you can do all the trips. It would be nice to get away just the two of you. If I had to choose, I would make that my last priority. I am sure your family would be willing to watch the kids in OK overnight so you and Tyler could get away together. It won't be the same as going to Florida, but if you can't do it all, that it was I would do.

Good Luck!

Annie said...

I don't know about the "injury" - ice cream or suckers always work as a good distraction. I wouldn't miss a family wedding for anything. I don't know about Christmas, but you could skip the FL trip, because you'll have eternity with your eternal companion. :)

Krista said...

#1 I would also say go with your gut instinct. Trust yourself.

#2 I cannot begin to tell my thoughts on this subject. What difficult decisions you are faced with! It is hard to have to make the vacation decisions. I would definitely say not to miss a family member's wedding...Too precious a moment to miss.
Lately, and after a few happenings in my life, I have thought it was a good idea to put my immediate family 1st, then my own and my husband's family 2nd (siblings, parents), then any other extended family.
Good luck in your decisions!

Carina said...

Decisions, decisions...first of all, I have no idea what I would do in the first situation. I think people have given you some good advice already, so I'll just say to trust yourself and trust the Lord.

Second of all, of course it would be awesome to have you at the reunion in June--but I'm not even sure we can go either, so don't let that be a factor (as if the simple fact that we might be there would be grounds for making sure you're there anyway =P). It would be awesome to see you, but I think it's more important for you to be there for your brother's sealing. A trip to FL would be awesome, but maybe this time isn't the best, with all the other things pulling you. Plus, like someone else said, if you're planning to go to OK and have Anna's baptism and Keith and Kristina's blessings and sealing, then that's one you don't want to miss as well. It's hard deciding what trips are worth it, isn't it? It stinks we all live so far away from each other! Good luck deciding!

Dianah said...

I think you pose two really good questions.

#1. I wouldn't know what to do. Aaron is dying of attention now that I have Cole, but he is content because I set time aside for him. Sorry, not much help there.
#2. I side with one of your friends when she said that you have eternity to spend with your eternal companion, but sometimes you just need to spend time with them once and a while. I gave up my Christmas trip to go see my sister get married. I was glad to see my family, but I haven't been able to spend Christmas with them since before I got married. It's the holiday if you ask me.

Just pick which one that you think you, your husband, and your kids would be most happy with.

Queen Mother said...

You crack me up!

Ticklemedana said...

I LOVE the suggestion of asking family members to "donate" to your OK travel fund...great Idea and You know your fam would totally be for it...

as for the rest, this is how I look at things like this in my life: if you are "meant" to be there, things will happen and a way will be provided for if you have the faith...things have always worked themselves out in my own life when I've looked at it that way and I've gotten to be a part of some neat things when I just had the faith that if I supposed to be there a way would be provided...for what it's worth...love you! and how exciting! I hope I'll get to be home for christmas this year to maybe be around for some of it!