The Spa Day is Over, and Reality Lives On

Yesterday my mom, sisters, and I spent the day in full indulgence, basking in mud, mineral baths, and steam rooms while our husbands and children held down our forts from morning until night.  We had planned this day for months, and considering it's the first time we have done anything like this together, it was long over due.

Here is a picture of us laying out by the pool:

Here is another picture of us, this time covered in mud from head to toe:

Here is a great shot of us detoxing in a mineral bath:

Right.  Not a picture to be had.  We locked away our phones, never even took our cameras, and the only images captured from the day are locked in our hearts, ensuring that there is zero photographic evidence of any of us waltzing around Glen Ivy without a stitch of make-up on our faces.

It was a beautiful day.  A wonderful time to visit, relax, and enjoy each other.  I so love my mom and sisters.  Thank you, Hugo, for the gift.

This morning I was back on the job.  Lee had minimum day, so he got out early from school.  I volunteer in his class every Thursday, so I went in at 10:00 like usual, and worked in his class until school dismissed.

He greeted me by sharing a war wound on his side.  He slipped and fell in the bathroom at recess.  As he shared his experience, he said that his legs were shaky when it happened.  Were they shaky before he fell, making him fall?  Or did he fall, and then get shaky legs?  He isn't sure.  He was very confused as I asked him.

I got permission from his teacher to ask a classmate who was with Lee when the accident occurred.  The boy didn't see his actual fall, but he reported what he did see.  I asked whether Lee lay on the floor like he was "asleep."  He said he didn't.  I asked whether Lee got up quickly after he fell.  He said he did.  Sounded un-seizure-like.

But, Lee's teacher then shared what she described as an "odd moment," earlier in the morning during P.E., when Lee stood motionless in spite of a teacher instructing him to participate in the exercise they were doing at the time.  Three times, she tried to get his attention, with no success.  Finally, he was asked to sit in time-out.

His teacher heard about what had happened, so she went to Lee to question him.  She found him disoriented and confused, and sad because he had gotten into trouble. She did not feel that Lee had been defiant with the other teacher.

I had planned on having him ride his scooter to the post office with me after school, while I rode Tessa's bike.  It's about a 2 mile ride from our house.

He did OK.  He needed to stop and rest a lot, but temperatures hovered in the upper-80s, to low 90s.  I noticed that he was slow to respond to my instructions when I'd give them.  This made me very, very nervous, as traffic on Glendora Avenue travels at about 40 miles per hour.   We were on a sidewalk, but still.

Honestly, he did very well, was very coordinated, and he followed every rule.  I was so divided.  I was nervous on the inside, fearing he'd lose control and stumble out into oncoming traffic.  But, on the outside, I was so proud, watching him move with grace and sheer joy.

We stopped and got ice cream.

And he had to stop and sit under the 210 freeway on our way to the post office, as well as on the way back home.

He loves doing this, and honestly I can understand why he would.  It sounds echoey and strange, you get a sense of great power racing overhead, and it's quite cool on a hot, late summer day.  But, all I could thing of was this:  What if an earthquake hit right now, and the freeway collapsed?  Oh, such is the life for a mom with anxiety issues.

I wonder all the time about my choices with Lee.  Is it OK to allow him to do things that are risky like scootering on a day when he's spacey, and confused?  And as I muse that thought, I wonder if it is OK to not let him do things that are risky like scootering on a day when he's spacey, and confused.  Is it my job to protect and shield him, or is it my job to allow him to live life to the fullest in spite of having a seizure disorder?

We came home, and he rested while watching The Return of the King.  It's now time to tackle homework.  I'm not at the spa anymore, but I am home, with my family, and happy to soak in every moment as though each moment were precious.  Because each moment with these people is precious.