Mommy Common sense! MUST READ!

Sorry its been a while since I blogged but between church, soccer, college, and work I just don't have the time. But, I felt this was important.

As I have worked with children, have children and have friends with children I have come to know most childhood illnesses from hives, lice, allergic reactions, yeast infection diaper rashes to hand foot and mouth, croup, asthma and pneumonia. I am NOT qualified nor do I have a medical degree but what I do have is mommy common sense and the contact with each diagnoses to back it up. I DO NOT Google because well.......who has ever parent googled and been listed with a bunch of nonsense diagnoses that all point to a life threatening diagnoses by WebMD I know I have. Well here is where technology failed me 11 years ago.

11 years ago Brianna was born she was a average baby and for the most part VERY healthy she had one huge problem.....Chronic Ear Infections. I felt like we were in the doctors every other week when one antibiotic ended the other ear would get infected. The cycle was brutal on us as well as her. You know those middle of the night howlings and screaming followed by you as a mother in fetal position PRAYING for 20 minutes of sleep before the howling and screaming began again! Ya I know you know! Well I was 20 years old and I trusted my pediatrician to do right by my child. They do hold a degree and for Gods sake they are DOCTORS! Classic ear infection no problem right....she didnt have a mysterious rash or random fevers of no cause or origin she had ear infections. We also 11 years ago didnt have Facebook or Myspace or Twitter and to be honest I didnt have ANY friends with kids so information came straight from the doctor. Where am I going with the computer stuff this is where....When we post our Facebook status about our children or our day or what we are making for dinner we get feedback from other people. If I had posted "Up all night with Brianna again pretty sure we are on ear infection 13246543216543541" I would have atleast gotten a friend or family member to say....Hey my child had that same problem and had tubes put in their ears you should call Dr so and so they did my kids and BAM no ear infections...Well this never happened for me and this is the result.

We have switched pediatrician since the first whack job let me just give you a antibiotic regardless of the strains of infections that are mutating up immunities to these said antibiotics and mommy will just feel better. Im not a mommy who needs to feel better jack ass a  mommy who wants my child better and will ONLY give those said antibiotics if a BACTERIA or INFECTION is present NOT because you think I need to feel better about pumping my kid full of unnecessary antibiotics!

During those ear infection battles we discovered that Brianna was allergic to Amoxicillan and Ceftasporin antibiotics and she was from then on out given Zitromax. It did work but she lived on it.....and my doctor never suggested tubes in her ears. He also just treated Shailyn for chronic croup, bronchitis, CONSTANT wheezing and hospitalized Strep A bacterial pneumonia with out ever considering it was being caused by weak lungs due to ASTHMA! This same doctor also NEVER diagnosed Nic with his Low Growth Hormone levels that caused him to all of a sudden stop growing at 2 years old....that took me fighting for a referral to Georgetown Hospital Endocrinology after he was 4 years old and STILL in a 2T. That was enough for me to FREAK OUT! We left the practice and since have found a GREAT pediatrician and are very happy with the care we receive! Brianna has had a huge bought with strep throat and he referred us to ENT.  We met with ENT Dr today who said that Brianna was going to definitely need her tonsils out she has pitted tonsils that grab and hold bacteria in the little pockets of those pits and it would just get worse and not get better. While she was talking to us about her history and drug allergies she was looking Brianna over and as she looked in her ears I told her about the chronic ear infections and how she lived on one antibiotic for 2 years of her life and she said.....St Marys pediatrician.....I said YUP, she still looking in Briannas ears....start with a S and end in a TH I said no but close La......feer. She said.....she needed tubes!!!!  I can see the struggle in her ears.....she has some pretty bad scarring on her ear drums due to that struggle!!!!  I must have looked dumbfounded because she sat down and said that doctors don't seem to want to refer kids to specialists to fix the problems. I know I disliked that doctor but now I am FURIOUS! my child has SCARS on her EAR DRUMS due to his lack of concern and his antibiotic pushing self! She then informed me that the pediatricians were treating kids with fluid in their ears with antibiotics this is when that common sense comes into play.....Antibiotics are to treat infections and bacteria NOT fluid in the ears.....fluid need to be drained NOT given a antibiotic for it.

What I am trying to say pretty much is listen if parents had to take a infectious control class before becoming parents they wouldn't be so apt to just take a antibiotic from the doctor and give it to a child based on a VIRUS ANTIBIOTICS DONT CURE VIRUSES. I can honestly say that I threw away 75% of the prescriptions for my kids when the doctor handed them to me after telling me my child had a virus. by the time Brianna is my age she may not have a antibiotic she can take to cure a common sinus infection because her doctor let her live on Zithromax instead of referring to a specialist. If your child had a reoccurring illness over and over and over again see a specialist! Dont wait till your child has permanent damage and you live with the guilt of that. She will need hearing aids long before old age when our hearing starts to go...hers will go quicker because she is so scarred up.  Just use mommy common sense.

That backfired only slightly!

On Sunday Brianna had a soccer game,  on the way to our church picnic that was before her game Brianna told me she often feels nervous before her games.  I asked her what does she do when she feels nervous she replied "nothing", I laughed and said "What should you do?". She sat there for a minute and then said "Well I guess I could pray?"

Im trying to make sure that my children know that every problem they have in life can be lifted up in prayer and the Lord will help them make since of it. I told Brianna that prayer sounded like a great idea! I told her that most football games, or baseball games are started in the locker rooms with prayer. She looked slightly puzzled by this. She then looks at me and said "Well what do I pray for???"

I had to actually think about that for a minute What do you pray for before a sporting event? So I sat there and then said "Well first Thank God for the blessing of be able to play something you love so much, ask for strength to endure the sport, ask for the wisdom to make good judgement, ask for the knowledge to make good plays, watch over and protect the players of the game to keep them safe and free from injury and most importantly ask God to bless you with encouraging words to say to your teammates as well as your opponets.  She looked at me and smiled and say AWESOME Thanks Mom! That made me smile!

Well  the game was going full force and those girls we fighting each other tooth and nail for the ball. It was a hard game being played by both teams. I starting noticing that the girl on the opposing team #5 was not playing very fair and who was she covering...BRIANNA! I am very vocal on the sidelines (Go figure right) well #5 kept throwing her arm up across Briannas chest when she was trying to go around her to block her...In case you don't know soccer, that is not allowed you can use your whole body or arm at a angle but not straight across the chest...The ref was calling NOTHING! We all love when that happens dont we! I had an INCREDIBLE since of yelling raging inside my body. My insides were screaming to yell "KEEP IT UP #5 IM WATCHING YOU" I walked up and down the sidelines briskly and my heart was racing and I realized...This soccer mom stuff is tough buisness! I prayed for calming...didnt happen LOL. Well forth quarter we were up 1-0 and the opposing team was NOT happy about that. The gloves were coming off at this point. Brianna is a Midfeilder and had already had two oppurtunities to score and either missed the net or didnt pull the trigger and she was down on the other side of the feild opposite of the goal they score into. She was able to get the ball and was running..I MEAN RUNNING! Like Forrest Gump running with the ball dribbling really fast probably the fastest I had ever seen her dribble the ball down field!! Then guess what HERE COMES  #5 with a quick TRIP!!!! I watched my daughter CHEST plant in the middle of the feild!! I mean like CHEST first and her feet flipped up almost touching the back of her head with her arms CRUMPLED under her! My heart stopped! Then she got up and took off down the feild!!! I was astonished! The ref NEVER called the Penalty!

As she kept playing I noticed she was holding her arm and opening and closing her hand and favoring it ALOT. I yelled out CRUSH and when she looked my way I gave her a thumbs up she signaled back WITH THE OTHER ARM and thumbs up. We were nearing the end of the game and her coach switched out the line....never pulling Brianna....She played till the end. As she ran up and down the feild again coming SUPER close to scoring I could see the swelling in her arm. At the end of the game her team won they held them to the 1-0 lead. When she made it to the sidelines  I asked if she was okay she said NO. I looked at her arm and it was swollen I could have sworn it was broke. She was able to move it and she decided she didnt want to go the ER she was fine. I respected her decision and she came home and went to Awana.

Later that night she came to me and said "You know Mom I did what you said and I prayed before the game and asked for Gods protection for my teammates and I got hurt???" Why would he let me get hurt?? My response was "Well was your arm broken?" She replied No I said right Gods gonna let you fall and maybe even scrape your knees alittle but understand one thing....He will always PICK YOU UP! Did you get up? She said Yes, I said right and did you finish your game? she said Well yeah....I said Right! He gave you the protection you asked for and the strenght and the wisdom to make decisions that didnt involve retaliation and that can also fit into encouragement...Think about how your teammates may have felt after they watched you fall HARD onto the ground and even with your arm aching you got up and you CONTINUED your game. That Babygirl was God.....

My ideal marriage...With the help of my Faith.

As much of us are very well aware fairy tales dont exist. The Knight in shining armour is never gonna whisk you up and carry you off into the sunset or to the top of a tower overlooking a gorgeous kingdom. This was a hard concept for me to come to. I always wanted that TV show marriage not King of Queens but the Leave it to Beaver one. I had such a hard life as a child, my parents didnt show me the picture perfect version of a marriage. I set up unrealistic expectations of what a marriage was and then expected my husband to live up to those standards based soley on what I wanted and didn't want from what I saw in my parents marriage. I then realized that the only knight in shining armour to come swoop me up and take to my tower over looking the kingdom was Jesus Christ when he comes back. My happily ever after starts then and only then not while I am here.

Friends around us are divorcing left and right and believe me when I say my marriage has been on the battlefield more than I care to admit and on countless times almost collapsed to a ashy pile of smoky dust at the front lines of that battlefield. I have recently decided to pray about what my marriage was meant to be by Gods standards and not the standards of Disney Princess lives. This is my new standard and what I want in my marriage and what God intended our marriage to be.

1. I will and I want my husband to have patience. Fights occur when patiece is lost....

2. I will not easily anger....see #1 :) I will go to prayer before I speak. Only words to lift my husband not words to discourage him.

3. I will chose to be kind in all things. How I speak, my ACTIONS (equally as important then my words)

4. I will make it a point to kiss my husband when he walks in the door to show him that I missed him while he was gone and how THANKFUL I am the Lord brough him home each and every day!

5. My only addiction......My husband. Good bye facebook.

6. I will pray with my husband and become submissive in the way of religion. I will submit to his leadership in our faith.

7. I want to work as a team together holding hands facing down the darker paths of life with the Light of the Lords Glory shining on us. Through Christ who gives us strentgh those dark paths will be lite through him.

8. I want a relationship full of mutual respect.

9. I want to rely on my husband for help. Teamwork. Always be his equal.

10. Most impotantly I want a marriage filled with all the blessing the Lord has bestowed upon us...with that being said Grace and Forgiveness.

I think as I am mom I am doing alright!

I got a phone call last week from a organization called Amvets (American Veterans) I think its like purple heart. They collect donations from local residents. They asked if I had any clothing or houseware stuff I would like to donate of course I always have clothes from the kids. I told them I did and looked forward to them coming to get them. When I got off the phone Brianna asked me who I was talking to and I told her it was a organization who collects things to give to needy families. About a hour later she came back and said..."Do they take flip flops?" I said I am sure they do. Well the next day I was busy doing laundry and cleaning up the hallway upstairs when I came across a Old navy bag with some clothes in it. I assumed they were from a over night trip one of the girls had last weekend. I pulled out a hoodie and a pair of pants and flip flops as I looked at them I realized it was Briannas flip flops she had asked about and then I realized she had packed a bag to give to Amvets. I attempted to put the clothes back in the bag when I felt something in the pocket, I reached in and found two folded up pieces of paper. On those papers found this.....







It reads in case you cant see it

Dear reader,
I hope you enjoy this nice jacket and it keeps you cozy, Also I hope this jacket can be of use. I wish you the best of luck with the days to come!

Love, Brianna
<3

P.S. I hope you like this drawing just for you!

And here is the drawing





I stood in shock and then that moment was followed by proud. I am sure no one will ever see this letter but I cant help but to feel like Brianna went to bed with a happy thought that night and I know I went to bed with a feeling of....I may not be perfect, I make mistakes, I often screw up but I am raising some pretty great kids and I am happy with that!

Just a random act of kindness....if only the whole world joined in.

Saturday was a typical Saturday in the Supermom household. I took the girls to church for the Mother/Daughter breakfast. After I came home and cleaned up some then we rolled out to where else....the soccer field! Shay had a game followed by Nics but there was a hour break between games and I was STARVING! I asked Brian to take me to Subway so I could grab a sub. Nic and I went inside apparently he was hungry to. Well I noticed the man in front of me, he was a older gentlemen. He was ordering his sub....just a sub 6 inch sub to be exact. I took a mental note of the girl taking the order and noticed she seemed flustered. I wasn't sure if it was a "this customer is getting on my nerves" or the "I am the only worker and the line is building" flustered. Then I noticed she was intently looking at the gentlemen who I then noticed had that sound when he talked...that muffled not producing sound just more or less that round about sound..I don't know how to describe it...he was deaf. Now I knew what kind of flustered the sub maker was...with the customer. Well this kind of annoyed me a bit...you work with the general public and this gentlemen was deaf. He could not help that he couldn't hear and my bad you have to listen intently when he speaks and take note of where he is pointing! This got under my skin a bit but I just stood there kind of dumbfounded. I was watching this gentlemen trying so hard to communicate with the worker and her frustration was growing and to be honest I wanted to help but I don't know sign language I couldn't help! As I stood there I noticed the gentleman's clothes. They were slightly dirty and looked worn and his shoes had a hole in the toe, his shirt had a few holes...and he looked a little unkept. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of silent world he was living in. After the sub was done and the worker took him to the register he reached deep down in his pocket and started counting change...now the worker was really frustrated and I stood there praying for the right way to handle this....God answered me....

Smile and pay for this gentleman's food.

(worker is standing with that I am annoyed look and the gentlemen counting dimes)

I stood there for a minute trying to process what I was hearing and I heard it louder

SMILE AND PAY FOR THIS GENTLEMAN'S FOOD SHANNON!!

This time I heard my actual name....God was SERRRIOUS!

So I looked at Nic standing my the order here sign and said Stay here!

I walked up to register and I smiled at the worker and I said. Here take my card I got his meal.

She looked at me and said Do you know him??

I smiled and said No why do I need to know him to pay for his food?

She laughed and said NO but random strangers don't just pay for random peoples food! I smiled (like God said) and replied...they should! If more people showed more random acts of kindness and humanity towards strangers the world would be a much better place.

Then I lightly touched the gentleman's arm to get his attention...he looked up at me and there was a genuine sincerity in his eyes and I smiled and showed him the receipt and motioned..I got it for you!

He looked shocked and then he smiled and Thanked me.....50 times! He smiled and my heart was warmed. Then he shook my hand and bowed down to me I guess to show me how much he appreciated what I had done. I smiled really BIG and kept saying your welcome enjoy! He walked out turning to me bowing down and trying to say thank you thank you thank you.....

After he left I took my spot in the line and then I noticed the WHOLE demeanor of every witness in Subway had changed! The worker smiled at me and said "You are one special women...I have never seen anyone just pay for a strangers food". I smiled and said.."Well next time you go to a fast food restaurant....pay for the car behind you, then go to a sit down restaurant pick a random family and pay for them, God will reward those who serve him and others. Soon you can pay for the groceries to a family in front of you.

The point is, we are all quick to judge and get annoyed or think to much about random acts of kindness. If you hear that voice in your head its God follow him and his sayings I can promise he wont steer you wrong. You never know what the family in front of you at the grocery store went through to get there or to get the money to pay for it. She may have chosen to not pay her car payment because her kids were hungry or maybe they just lost their job and that was all the money they had and are praying for Gods help with the finances you just may be that answered prayer.

The best of this story. Nic said Mommy, Did you buy that mans food? That was very nice of you. Can I buy someone food with my Christmas money? I turned to him and I said Of course you can! We can donate it to the food pantry at church. That way your food could feed a few people in need! I have now started my 6 year old on the right path of kindness!

My husband will fight burglers naked....be warned!

Early this morning I rolled over and I remember this and I happened to hit my pillows the right way and I remember saying to myself...This is the MOST comfortable I had ever been and then boom DEEP SLEEP! Ever had one of those? Well not to much longer I was awakened by the sound of my house alarm! Brian has set it off pretty much every morning so I laid there in bed listening for the profanities and the THUD/THUMPS of the mad dash to turn it off......NOTHING......So I opened my eyes to see the light under the bathroom door. Brian was NOT leaving he was in the bathroom..Now the panic pretty much set in! I JUMPED up ran to the panel in my bedroom....all it said was ALARM ZONE 19??? What the heck was zone 19....so I listened our alarm talks on the main level. We opted for the talking alarm because my kids are sneaky and it shouts what has been opened. Example : BEEP BEEP BEEP...Fault Basement Door open.....I catch a kid sneaking outside through the basement! So anyway back to panic mode.....I then crept over to the bedroom door and I heard....(This scared the HELL out of me) ALARM DO DO DO DO Dining room WINDOW!!! What the......window......window....WINDOW!!! Someone is trying to break in....who comes in a window??? So now I haven't even called to Brian he is still in the bathroom....I start to sneak down the steps to get a view of the dining room windows. I didn't have to creep far to see them, so I look and NOTHING...its not opened, the screens are intact and not removed or ripped. So I calm down and then I turned, MIND YOU I am about 3 steps down, I turn to return to bed and let ADT know we are not being burglarized and I turn righ smack into.....MY HUSBAND MANHOOD! Of course I JUMPED Brian had apparently heard the alarm while attempting to get in the shower and came out behind me NAKED! I yelled at him..BRIAN YOUR NAKED!! He said I know but do you think if someone is breaking in my house I am worried about my clothes! I said well I bet they will....He said perfect way to scare them off...This still confuses me....So Thank you ADT for showing me that my husband will fight burglers either clothed or naked.....and Thank you for apparently going off for NO REASON and disturbing my Steller drooling on my pillow sleep...

Mary mother of God: The original Supermom!

So my husband is gone (for work for a month been 2 weeks already) and I am feeling overwhelmed and stressed but have been finding moments of solitude and profound statements in the best place ever.....MY BIBLE! Who'd a thunk it right? :) Well upon reading Mark (my husband is a new bible reader YAY and he is reading it so I want to be on the up and up when he asks questions or forms a discussion) and in this book is some of the stories of Jesus during his time of human form here in earth. For those who aren't aware of his healing, and dealings, and miraculous work..read it its awesome ;) Well it sparked a conversation between my soul sister Sarah and I she being a fellow Christian whom I can go to with anything and she can find it usually instantly, sometimes it takes a little work but together we figure it out. I made the statement that how awesome it would have been to be alive in those times to see Jesus work in lives of people face to face or to see his footstep on the ground or to just be in the presence of him. We see him work in his spirit form and by our faith in him but I would have LOVED to see him work in the ways I have read. Well as that conversation progressed (about 2 hours of time) we moved from there and we were talking about Herod because I was seeing his name alot and then we proceeded to talk of his antics and his plot to massacre all baby boys under the Age of 2. Well this started a deeper mommy message about Mary herself.

Mary, the mother of the Son of God. That name carries such a deep meaning. Here is this young mother who gives birth to a baby boy not just any baby boy but the Son of God!! Then shortly after his birth Mary was informed that she had to flee Bethlehem with the baby to escape the King (Hebron) who ordered the death of all baby boys under the age of two! Put yourself in Mary's shoes as a mother...we all protect our children and would lay our lives down for them but she is the mother of the Messiah.
Mary fled the town and took the baby to Isreal where he would be safe. The protector of the Messiah is what she is in my definition...Supermom! Could you imagine the fear and anxiety and the mental anguish she must have felt. Her babies life was in danger! Ultimately his life was always in danger...not exactly danger but it was prophesied of what would become of him. Mary the devoted mother was with her son through all his suffering. women lose children due to other circumstance but usually not at any control of her own anyway BUT mary gave birth to a child and raised him knowing what would happen to him. How can you enjoy the time you have with your child knowing around the tender age of 33 years you would watch him be sacraficed for us. GRANTED, he did this for us and to carry the weight of all sins of the hman world and again ultimately to set us free but still being a mother I cant help but weep for her as well as him.

When Jesus was arrested and taken into custody and sentenced to the flogging and the torture where was Mary? I will tell you....with her son! She stayed with the crowds of people and she watched her son bear the most unbearable of all things. I know when B corrects our children I sometimes get that momma lion instinct and I want to step in. Place yourself in her shoes again....Could you as a mother watch what he went through on one of your own children? She walked along side him as he carried his cross all while still being beaten and harrased and mocked and she went to the top of that mountain and then again was there and watched as her son was crucified!! I cant help but feel very torn by her decision to watch what was done. I have trouble watching my children get vaccinations I could not even bear the thought of enduring the things that she did. I do have one thing to say about Jesus in this time in all his anguish and pain he thought of his mother and as he saw her during the crucifiction he made time for her and cared enough for her to appoint a disciple to care for her~~

John 19:26-27 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman,here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

I guess where I am going with this is I will never so much as dare to complain about motherhood or the trails and tribulatons of having a child when I will never experience and have to deal with what Mary did. I will always reflect on what she experienced and use it as my own life lesson. As you enjoy the presence of your children this Sunday Mothers day take to time to reflect and pray for what it could have been.