It’s strange how time works when you’re a parent.
Some moments feel like they are endless — like trying to get your kid to fall asleep as a toddler or when they tell you the lore of a new video game obsession while you’re trying to work on something. Let me know if you want to learn about Shadow Milk Cookie.
Others are moments you wish would last longer but slip away too soon, like hugs, smiles and looks of absolute joy. Or, like when her school’s Battle of the Books team won the district championship.
I experienced both in a short period of time recently when my 8-year-old daughter had her tonsillectomy.
It was a minor operation, and the doctor told us there was very little chance of something going wrong. No need to worry, mom and dad. Yeah, right.
Dressed in her little medical gown, she waved goodbye to me and my wife while walking down a hallway holding her little Shadow Milk Cookie plush. It only lasted a few seconds, but I saw it in slow motion. I didn’t want her to leave, and I kept telling myself to smile and hold it together so she wouldn’t feel any fear.
But when she was out of sight, my wife and I exhaled and began the endless wait for her to return. We talked about other things to get our mind off our child’s operation. But, if I’m being honest, I don’t think either of us cared about what the other was saying while our baby was in peril.
After less than an hour, she was wheeled into her hospital room, still asleep from anesthesia. Everything went fine. There really was no reason to worry. I looked at my phone, and I wondered how such little real time had passed in the months I waited in my mind.
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Enrique Saenz has been a parent for 8 years, but he’s still trying to figure it out. You can reach him at enrique.saenz@mirrorindy.org.
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