My Flight Attendant

As I mentioned previously, I have been worried about Mike. Last week he started coughing a bit more after eating. He seems to have alot of gas, which causes him to burp, which then causes him to cough. This COULD be a medical problem, Lord knows. When his gall bladder was infected, bleeding and filled with stones, he still ate, drank and acted "normally". History shows that there is no way for us to know whether Mike's issues are medical or the disease.

Because he's been having these "issues" this last week, I cannot help but worry that this is the beginning of his body giving up. While getting Mike into bed last night, I opened a discussion with the kids about this. Of course, Courtney got angry, telling me that I'm "looking" for trouble. Brandon was quiet though and I asked if he was OK. He said, "mom, you're my flight attendant. I look to you to see if you get nervous or upset. If you're OK, then so am I. If you are worried, then so am I".

You see, I am not a great flyer. Whenever we would fly somewhere with the kids, I would tell them that I always watched the flight attendant. Since they were experienced, they would know what's "normal" or not. If they looked OK, then I was OK. Imagine my shock when Brandon used that analogy with me last night.

Kids listen more than we know. I realized just how much my actions dictate how my children feel. What an amazing amount of pressure.