Full disclosure – I am NOT a particularly empathetic person. While I’m sure I have (hopefully) many other good qualities, empathy is just not one of them. There’s one perhaps unexpected exception to this character failing of mine: my child. When she came along, many things changed. Not just the obvious (sleep deprivation, lack of personal time and space, new wing-lady 24/7), but also the surprising. My little girl opened my heart up in way no one else had been able to before.
When she’s sick, I struggle through her every cough and whimper. Boo boos result in tears shed by both parties. I feel every pain she feels as if it were my own. This, I discovered, is what it really means to be a mother – to have your heart forever living outside your body.
And who knew little kids could get so sick, and so frequently? The first fever was the worst – frantically calling the pediatrician for advice, cooling her in a lukewarm bath, carefully measuring TYLENOL® to bring the fever down. The sinking sensation you feel as a mother when your child is sick has no match to any previous experience. A piece of you is sick – the best piece of you that you value the most, and you’d do anything to make it better.
The upside is when your child comes out the other side again, healthy and happy and slowly smiling again. That slow smile that lights up their eyes, and means they’re going to be ok, that you can relax for a few moments while everything is at ease again. It’s the feeling of peace, of relief, and joy that you and your little one have survived another challenge together. Motherhood: it sure ain’t for the feint of heart!
You can help spread those “feel better” smiles by sharing a photo that makes you smile at SmilingItForward.com. For every photo uploaded, TYLENOL® will make a $1 donation to Children’s Health Fund, up to $100,000, helping to ensure a doctor’s visit is always within reach for children in need.
I have received information and products from McNeil Consumer Healthcare Division of McNEIL-PPC, Inc., the makers of TYLENOL®. The opinions stated are my own. This is a sponsored post for SheSpeaks.