This week I was watching the news and I heard that a Mama bear and her cub were roaming the "big" city where I live. School had just started and many students walk to school in this area so there were a lot of people working to move the bears to a safe location away from the "city". Apparently, these authorities that run the parks and forestry or the city or whoever was in charge, did not succeed in capturing these bears and moving them to a safe location, because they ran right in front of my car!
I was driving East up the mountain and as I came around a bend I see this huge bear run across the road as I am going about 60 MPH. I slowed down because it scared the absolute CRAP out of me to see this sasquash run across the road, but also because I knew the baby cub would not be far behind. The cub of course decided to make a run for it right as it was next to my car, causing me to brake and swerve, knock my sunglasses off my face and nearly spill my coffee (on my white pants) all at the same time.
Thankfully, I did not hit this cute little cub (or spill coffee on my white pants), but right at that moment the Mama bear also realized that the cub was not with her and was turning around to come back and get the cub. I kept driving and flashed my lights at oncoming cars like there was a tornado trailing behind my little car. In my rear view mirror I could see the cars brake lights but I could no longer see the bears. At this point I proceeded to ball hysterically in my car. I was terrified for this little cub and thankful that I was able to miss him (my warning light came on later from my extreme use of my breaks and swerving), but I was also moved to tears at the thought of this Mama bear running back into oncoming traffic for its little baby cub.
As I drove (albeit a little recklessly through the massive amounts of tears in my eyes), I was finally able to calm down enough to realize that my distress at the situation was due to my understanding of how this poor Mama bear felt. Once she realized her cub needed help she quickly ran into a road to protect her baby. While bears obviously do not understand traffic, I would imagine they understand large objects moving towards them and how dangerous this act would be.
As I continued to drive the remainder of the distance to work and attempted to further calm myself down, I thought about how sometimes (or a lot), I too act like a "Mama bear". When we work with Olivia and attempt to get her to use her right side it usually ends up with her in tears, sometimes a lot of tears. I have to fight every urge not to pick her up and hug her and rock her and make her feel better. But instead of having one Mama bear mode of protecting my child from tears and pain, I have to choose a different kind of Mama bear mode where I have to help her to grow, learn and develop, despite the discomfort it may cause her.
I am not sure everyone can really relate to this exact experience, or at least the exact way that I feel personally, as everyone is different, so I will try to explain. Some parents may have experienced sleep training with their children. Where you attempt to "train" your child to sleep through the night without waking up to nurse or to snuggle, or whatever reason keeps them up each night. And during that training experience you lay there in your own bed, listening to your child crying and crying, feeling absolutely helpless, and like you are the worst parent in the world. You know that the outcome of the sleep training will benefit your child with a better night of sleep each night (and you), but the pain you have to endure to get your child to that point is near unbearable. This, unfortunately, is how our physical therapy sessions go and also the mom/dad therapy sessions each and every day.
I am certain that all parents have to go through some form of this feeling. Where you have to make a decision that might be hard on your child, but you know it is best for them in the long run. I know that everyone can relate when I say that this process is HARD. It is so painful to watch my sweet Olivia go through these sessions. We, of course, give her breaks and we make her laugh and have fun between tasks and the best part, and most rewarding part, is when the hard work pays off, and Olivia knows when she has achieved a monumental milestone because I scream hysterically, clap, cheer and yell her name and each time she laughs and smiles a HUGE smile.
Each day she proves to be better and better at so many different things and I marvel at her progress and how far she has come. So for now, I will take each therapy session with a grain of salt, quiet the Mama bear inside me, and hope that the decisions that Mike and I make will serve her well in the near future and well beyond.
(Not the actual bears, but pretty close to what I experienced!)
I was driving East up the mountain and as I came around a bend I see this huge bear run across the road as I am going about 60 MPH. I slowed down because it scared the absolute CRAP out of me to see this sasquash run across the road, but also because I knew the baby cub would not be far behind. The cub of course decided to make a run for it right as it was next to my car, causing me to brake and swerve, knock my sunglasses off my face and nearly spill my coffee (on my white pants) all at the same time.
Thankfully, I did not hit this cute little cub (or spill coffee on my white pants), but right at that moment the Mama bear also realized that the cub was not with her and was turning around to come back and get the cub. I kept driving and flashed my lights at oncoming cars like there was a tornado trailing behind my little car. In my rear view mirror I could see the cars brake lights but I could no longer see the bears. At this point I proceeded to ball hysterically in my car. I was terrified for this little cub and thankful that I was able to miss him (my warning light came on later from my extreme use of my breaks and swerving), but I was also moved to tears at the thought of this Mama bear running back into oncoming traffic for its little baby cub.
As I drove (albeit a little recklessly through the massive amounts of tears in my eyes), I was finally able to calm down enough to realize that my distress at the situation was due to my understanding of how this poor Mama bear felt. Once she realized her cub needed help she quickly ran into a road to protect her baby. While bears obviously do not understand traffic, I would imagine they understand large objects moving towards them and how dangerous this act would be.
As I continued to drive the remainder of the distance to work and attempted to further calm myself down, I thought about how sometimes (or a lot), I too act like a "Mama bear". When we work with Olivia and attempt to get her to use her right side it usually ends up with her in tears, sometimes a lot of tears. I have to fight every urge not to pick her up and hug her and rock her and make her feel better. But instead of having one Mama bear mode of protecting my child from tears and pain, I have to choose a different kind of Mama bear mode where I have to help her to grow, learn and develop, despite the discomfort it may cause her.I am not sure everyone can really relate to this exact experience, or at least the exact way that I feel personally, as everyone is different, so I will try to explain. Some parents may have experienced sleep training with their children. Where you attempt to "train" your child to sleep through the night without waking up to nurse or to snuggle, or whatever reason keeps them up each night. And during that training experience you lay there in your own bed, listening to your child crying and crying, feeling absolutely helpless, and like you are the worst parent in the world. You know that the outcome of the sleep training will benefit your child with a better night of sleep each night (and you), but the pain you have to endure to get your child to that point is near unbearable. This, unfortunately, is how our physical therapy sessions go and also the mom/dad therapy sessions each and every day.
(Puffs make everything better)
Comments
Post a Comment