Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Parenting Interrupted

I read this article in the Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-meer/distracted-living_b_4059857.html and it brought me back to two nights ago.  As a mom and entreprenuer, I find I'm constantly juggling a million things at once.  I just started a maternity, nursing swimwear line for pregnant and new moms, so answering emails and phone calls while my toddler plays nicely on her own, is nothing new.

But two nights ago was a different story.  My baby girl made her way upstairs, which is a normal occurrence as well, but instead of finding her sisters toys to play with, she found the WD40 that was literally left out two minutes before (as my husband was going to grease up the squeaky door hinges).  I was, of course, on the phone and my husband quickly ran into our bedroom to pack another item he had forgotten about, for his upcoming business trip.  As the Huffington Post article points out, it literally took two minutes for my daughter to flip the lid off the oil, pour it all over the hardwood stairs and rub her hands and feet in it. 

I first smelled the oil as I walked up the stairs to check on her and of course screamed when I realized she was in fact playing in the toxic, hazardous oil.  My heart sunk so far into my stomach. My husband ran into the stairway and was just a shocked as I was.  Our initial reaction was to smell her breath to make sure she hadn't ingested the oil.  Lucky for us, this was just a finger-painting project for my little one.  We immediately threw her into the shower and washed the oil off.  I felt so lucky this situation wasn't worse than what it was.  But I have to say, this was a huge wake-up-call for both my husband and myself.  We were so easily distracted by other factors, we ignored the most important thing in our lives.

I know it's easy to get caught up in everyday life, but this situation made me realize the phone calls, tweeting and texting can wait.  My daughter is already growing up so fast as it is (she's already brushing her own teeth). I don't want to wake up one day and feel like I missed anything.  It was time for me to re-prioritize and re-organize my daily routine - allocate the proper time to focus on my work and spend good-quality time with my daughter, without the distractions.


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