Hug 'em a little tighter today

I'm usually not the sentimental type. Lately, however, I seem to be weepy about everything having to do with kids. This is not an indication that I want more. I really don't. Dr. Daddy's done the old snippy snip and we are DONE. Which is not to say that I didn't LOVE being pregnant. Every second of it. Right up until the very end. Then I was done. Like...GET IT OUT NOW done.
My stepmom sent me this email and for whatever reason it really touched me. I think it's because lately BabyBoy has really been getting on my nerves. He talks constantly. He must call my name a thousand times a day. For the most part, he is such a good boy but sometimes he just makes me want to pull my hair out! This story could have come right out of my own kitchen...

F A M I L Y

I ran into a stranger as he passed by,
"Oh excuse me please" was my reply.


He said, "Please excuse me too;
I wasn't watching for you."


We were very polite, this stranger and I.
We went on our way and we said goodbye.


But at home a different story is told,
How we treat our loved ones, young and old.


Later that day, cooking the evening meal,
My son stood beside me very still.


When I turned, I nearly knocked him down.
"Move out of the way," I said with a frown.


He walked away, his little heart broken.
I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.


While I lay awake in bed,
God's still small voice came to me and said,


"While dealing with a stranger ,
common courtesy you use,
but the family you love, you seem to abuse.


Go and look on the kitchen floor,
You'll find some flowers there by the door.


Those are the flowers he brought for you.
He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.


He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,
you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes."


By this time, I felt very small,
And now my tears began to fall.


I quietly went and knelt by his bed;
"Wake up, little one, wake up," I said.


"Are these the flowers you picked for me?"
He sm iled, "I found 'em, out by the tree.


I picked 'em because they're pretty like you.
I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue."


I said, "Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today;
I shouldn't have yelled at you that way."
He said, "Oh, Mom, that's okay.
I love you anyway."


I said, "Son, I love you too,
and I do like the flowers, especially the blue."


FAMILY
Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company
that we are working for could easily replace us in
a matter of days.
But the family we left behind will feel the loss
for the rest of their lives.


And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more
into work than into our own family,
an unwise investment indeed,
don't you think?
So what is behind the story?


Do you know what the word FAMILY means?
FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU

See what I mean? Just reading it again right now makes me weepy.
Yesterday, Dr. Daddy came home in a foul mood. He had a gold alert (major trauma) come in to the OR sometime in the afternoon. A mother was driving her two year old daughter and the baby unhooked her carseat strap. Mom (you know we've ALL done this) turned around to get baby back in seat, lost control of the car and hit a tree. Mom was fine. Baby died in the OR of a massive head trauma. Hearing that story made me want to throw up. How many times have you turned around to pick up a toy, hand someone a sippy cup, feel around for a passy? I have gotten better about pulling off to the side of the road to do these things lately but you can bet your ass I'll be pulling off EVERYTIME from now on. That poor mother had to go see her baby for the last time on an OR table. And you KNOW that she was yelling at that baby when it happened and that is her very last memory of her baby. Dr. Daddy said that what got him the most was that she was just like you or me. Nice jeans, put together, cute haircut, etc. Just a Mommy and her kid toolin on down the road with no idea of what was to happen next. So...hug 'em a little tighter today and the next time someone can't reach their McDonald's chicken nuggets PULL OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD!