I haven’t been able to blog the past few weeks since I got hospitalized. I’ve been in limbo writing-wise. This is actually my third draft for this particular post. Haha! I’ve been learning a lot lately with all the recent events in our lives and I haven’t been able to sort my thoughts out. Here’s another attempt in doing that. 🙂
We went to Toycon PH 2016 around second week of June. Our son Timmy had been to similar conventions previously so this one was not new to him. We got there early on a Saturday so we had the whole SMX to ourselves to roam around. I think people came flooding in around lunch time. After taking lots of pictures, we checked out the selling booths. 🙂
Among all the things he could get, he only chose one item. A tiny Elmo toy figure (PHP 150.00) because it reminded him of his book. The seller had a collection of miniature Sesame Street figures. Timmy could’ve asked for the rest since he has a penchant for collecting especially with books of the same author. But he opted for just one. After that, all he wanted to do was to play. His mind was set to go home. He kept saying to us, “I just want to play with you.”
His desire to be with us superseded the lure of having more toys.
Two weeks later, I got hospitalized for hypocalcemia and hypomagnesia. I had low levels of calcium and magnesium causing my low heart rate, strong chest pounding and palpitations, light headedness, cramping everywhere (not just the legs even in my neck, ribs, arms), and leg trembling.
I had to be confined for three days to get my electrolytes normalized and heart stabilized. They had to transfuse calcium (3x) and magnesium (1x) directly to my IV. We had to leave Timmy in my parents’ house and for two days he was crying and waking up early. He’s normally up by 9 or 10am but during this time he was up at 6am!
We were Skype-ing with him so he could see us. On the second day, he was already crying while talking to us. 🙁 He kept saying, “I don’t want mommy to be sick.” and “I want mommy and daddy to go here.” He cried while eating lunch and refused to take a nap. My mom had to call me because Timmy was just crying and wanted to talk to me.
My husband then called his friend who’s a doctor in the hospital I was confined in. He asked for clearance so to speak. Initially, the nurse told us that my son’s not allowed to visit. Good thing, the doctor said it’s fine. He said that when his child got sick, he had to bring the younger one with him in the hospital to sleep there, too. We made the decision to let him stay with us that day. He took a nap beside me for 3 hours and slept for 10 hours that night.
His desire to be with us superseded the lure of having unlimited gadgets and TV time.
What our child wanted the most was TIME. Time to be with us. Time to play with us. Time to read books together. Time to be thrown in the air. Time to eat with us. Time to pray together. Time to do anything with us.
It is the most expensive thing our children ask from us. Putting work on hold to carve out that time can be costly. But at the end of the day, we won’t remember the times we worked hard. We will always remember the special moments we have with our kids.
It made me feel guilty because there are times when I get distracted by my phone during our activity or playtime. I have moments when I’m with him but I’m not really there. 🙁 These two instances made me realize that no amount of material things can replace the value of investing time in our child’s life. This should be a no-brainer for any parent but we often get so busy with life that something as simple as this has been a challenge to provide.
Timmy has been very gentle with me since I got home. He would ask me if something’s wrong or painful when I lie down in the middle of the day or when he sees me resting at a time when I don’t usually rest. I’m almost back to 100% now and we praise God for that. 🙂 We took a break from homeschool. I haven’t worked on my lesson plan the past weeks. We just continued with our routine but it’s more of him just answering practice worksheets during homeschool time.
We resumed homeschool this week with a literature-based study on Dr. Seuss’ “Lorax” as we continued our study on plants. 🙂 Things are slowly returning back to normal in our home. My prayer the past few weeks hasn’t really been about my own healing but about time management.
Most people think that working from home guarantees more time with your children. My husband and I often find ourselves telling Timmy to wait because we’re still working—something I never thought we would have to do. But that’s the reality. We need to find balance just like any working parent. We need to set schedules as well.
My prayer every day is for me to be a good steward of this valuable resource. I need God’s help to use my time wisely. I need His help to cut back on social media browsing. I need His help to invest my time on things that matter most—relationships (with Him, my husband, and my son). I need His help to be intentional in everything I do and not just do things on the fly. I need His help to not let time just pass by but to make the most out of it.
Nothing is trivial when we spend time with someone. The small increments we invest everyday translate to emotional security, trust, confidence, and love—the very things our children need from us. Let’s encourage each other to splurge on time. Let’s throw an unlimited playtime party with our kids. Let’s have an unhurried date with our spouse. Let’s invest on the most expensive thing we all can afford—TIME. 🙂
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