Fight or Flight? Possibly the scariest moment of my life

Have you ever wondered if you were brave? You think about a scary situation and wonder if you could be that person that sees an accident and runs in to assist. You see someone drowning, would you be brave enough to pull them out and perform cpr? I had a situation last summer that if you were to ever ask me if I was brave enough to conquer it I would have blatantly told you no and grabbed my kids and ran. Here was my situation:

Last summer the boys and I took a trip up to my parents’ house in the Poconos of Pennsylvania. My parents live in a beautiful 3 story house and the basement is what you would call an in-law suite. At the very bottom of the stairs to your right is a small kitchen area that consists of a stove/oven, sink and mini fridge. My parents moved into this house when I was in college, so this was not the house I grew up in. The stove in the in-law suit never worked according to my dad. In fact, when he rented out that space tenants would use a hot plate because the stove “didn’t” work.

The boys and I when we visited would stay in the in-law suit and I loved having our own bathroom, living room and bedroom. It was like staying in our own little house while we visited. Far enough away that the kids wouldn’t be woken up by us adults upstairs laughing and hanging out and far enough away that my family didn’t have to deal with early morning temper tantrums.

It was a week day morning so both my parents were at work. I was upstairs with the boys making breakfast. Maddox was watching a show in the living room off the kitchen and Mason had signaled he wanted a toy downstairs. Without hesitation I told him to go ahead downstairs and get his toy. While finishing up breakfast and probably 2 min or so went by I started to yell for Mason to come upstairs and eat. It wasn’t like him to not come when called so I walked over to the doorway and as I looked down the steps I saw an orange tinge and smoke. I jumped probably 15 stairs and let out a scream I never recognized. When I got to the bottom of the stairs the stove was on fire to my right and Mason was across the room on the couch saying, “Hot”. The basement has very low ceilings and the flame I would say was less than a foot away from the ceiling. The ceiling was made of these panels that resembled a dry wall type of material. Let’s just say probably very flammable.

I looked at the flame and my immediate reaction after seeing that Mason was ok, was that I can’t let my parents’ house burn. I noticed that there was a plastic dish drain on top of the stove and Mason must have turned the burner on and the dish drain caught fire. Across from the kitchen area is a door to the back yard and I knew if I could grab the dish drain and run it over to the door and throw it outside I may have a chance to save the house. Of course in my mind if that didn’t work I would just grab Mason, run upstairs grab Maddox and the dog and get outside to the neighbors to call 911. I grabbed the drain on the one side that wasn’t on fire and lifted it off the stove. Parts of it still on fire fell on the burbury carpet, but I was able to get it out the door. The pieces of the drain that fell on the carpet were still burning, but I was able to wet the towel on the sink and put it out. Now, the stove was still burning, but I was able to use the pot that was on the side table that the previous tenant left on top of his hot plate (I at least unplugged the hot plate when we arrived to my parent’s house, because a plugged in hot plate and two 3 years olds is dangerous, right?) After filling up the pot a few times and throwing it on the stove and carpet the fire was out and the burner was off.

I grabbed Mason ran upstairs, grabbed Maddox and put the dog on the deck. I ran over to the neighbor’s house trembling and asked if he would come over to make sure everything was fine. Everything was fine, but I was a mess. Mason wouldn’t even go downstairs the rest of the trip and all I kept doing was running different scenarios through my head. What if I didn’t go down there at that moment? What if Mason was trapped down there and I couldn’t get to him? What if my parent’s house burned down? I still have moments where I go back to that moment and think of how lucky I was to go down at that exact time to be able to conquer the flames.

The whole point of this post is, I never in my wildest dreams thought I would have attempted to put out a fire. I know some of you are thinking, “Why would she stay and try to put it out? Get your kids and get out!” I agree, I would tell someone the same thing. However, I still can’t believe my instinct was to try and put it out. Maybe in my head I thought my parents were going to kill me if something were to happen to their home. Honestly, I must have had a mommy instinct that I could put it out, because I would never put my family in a situation where we would have died.  We are all much stronger than we give ourselves credit for. If there is ever a moment in your mind that you think you are not strong, you are amazingly strong.

Feel free to share your stories. I like knowing that I am not the only crazy person J.

Please for the love of all things holy....use the damn potty :)

April 17, 2018

Ok, I am going to be very honest here. You know that point in toddler hood where your child is supposed to use this thing called the potty? Well, my child has completely missed that memo.

Thank goodness I have one twin that is potty trained because if I just had Mason I would feel like I have failed as a parent. Are you ready for it?  MASON IS STILL IN DIAPERS! He is FOUR years old! I know kids who are just turning two that are going to the bathroom on the potty. I am starting to get that anxiety of going out in public and people finding out.

 If your a parent you know that feeling; everyone is standing around watching their kids run around and then one person brings it up and you have one mom who is like, "Oh ya, my perfect little Jimmy Joe was peeing on the potty at 9 months, wiping himself and then strapping his own diaper on." Then you have the next mom who has to one up the first mom. I am not a bragger, in fact, I want to be the mom that just lays all the bad crap out on the table. I want to meet a mom at the play ground that sees my kid in a diaper and then says, "Oh your kid too?  Refuses the potty? Ya, I have one just like him."

 I need to know there are other moms out there. Please!! Please let me know I am not the only parent whose child refuses to go on the potty. I wish I could say he has gone a few times, but I would be lying. He has gone pee pee on the potty once.

I joke and say that my child is going to go to the prom in a diaper and we all laugh, but honestly, I am covering up a fear that is starting to really fester deep down. I am reading articles from professionals who advise not to push. They mention that you don't see adults wearing diapers or soiling in the streets so just give him time. Well, how much time does this kid need? The kid can pretty much make himself his own lunch and I feel like every time I ask him to go to the bathroom his is flicking me off in his head.

They say not to nag and there is no way to force him so I just let him be and pray that I wake up to the glorious sounds of my child's stream hitting the little plastic spinner in our baby urinal that is suctioned to the glass shower :).

So, I want to ask all my mommy and daddy friends. Please tell me something that you have faced raising your kids to make me feel better....Please :)

Stay tuned!

Long overdue update!

Hello! It has been a couple years since my last post and lets just say the boys are 4 years old, in PreK and crazy as ever. Since moving to Florida back in 2015 we have been living the life. We take a lot of trips to Disney World, Busch Gardens and love watching all the wild life in our back yard.

At around 22 months my husband noticed the boys were not talking as well as they should have been. I, honestly, thought he was over reacting and was told that boys talk later than girls. Luckily, we found a state program that evaluated the boys and indeed they were developmentally delayed and was told they could start school full time as soon as they turned 3 years old. I was so excited for them, but sad that my time at home with them was ending. Actually, I take that back. I was ready for them to start. I wasn't really sad. I think I was sad at the idea, but we were all ready for something new. I hate to admit that I was ready for them to go to school, but the truth is I knew they were getting bored.  Also, anyone with small children know how hard it is to go run errands when you have little ones let alone two of them the same age. It was almost impossible to do anything during the day alone with them.

The boys started school and I was ready to take on the world. I had my new routine in place. Get up, get the kids dressed, fed, dropped off at school and go to the gym. The gym was over around 10 am, I would drive home, shower, straighten up the house and was able to relax for a couple hours before the boys were to be picked up. I loved it...for about 6 months. I had so many people tell me to enjoy this time, relax etc...but, i was feeling guilty. My husband was working and in my head I was goofing off. We are a one income military family and let me tell you, it is not easy living on one income.

So, I decided after a year to myself that I needed a new routine. I noticed that my brain was going to mush. My vocabulary was dwindling and as good as it was going to the gym and getting in shape I needed my brain to get in shape too. To me, I needed something more than just cleaning my house and running errands.

I started volunteering at the boys school as an aide and really enjoyed it. The first day I came home and couldn't get the smile off my face. I felt I had a purpose. I was doing good in the world, making a difference. After a few days, I was asked if I was interested in a full time position in the guidance department and was pretty much hired right away. I LOVE IT! I finally have a job that I look forward to and can have lunch with my boys. I am not going to lie having the summers off and all the fancy holidays is a great perk as well! 

We have one year left here in Florida and I am not ready to go. I have great friends a great job and we are finally where we need to be. Stay tuned!