Marcelle Thibault - Woman Kills Self and Niece and Nephew in Traffic

This story is so sad and I just read about it tonight. Apparently Marcelle Thibault, after driving on the wrong side of the road, pulled her car over, got out of her car with her 4 year old nephew and 5 year old niece, removed her clothes and theirs, and then walked into oncoming traffic. They were hit by 2 cars and all are now dead. They are stating that Marcelle Thibault had a history of mental illness. An episode for which she was treated within the past year. Her family stated that she was fully recovered with no signs of a relapse. It is a truly devasting story. I am at a loss for words to express to this family my deepest sympathy for their loss. I know the pain they are all experiencing is unbearable. I also know that the drivers of both cars are experiencing a pain just as horrible. I hope and pray for them all.

I hope that the media will allow this family to grieve and give them peace. As much as everyone wants to know why she did it, there is no reason that can bring these kids back to their parents. Please allow them to heal and grieve. Their lives have been changed forever.

Tell everyone you love how much they mean to you tonight. Remind yourself of what is important in life. This story reminds me of that and makes me want to go into my son's room and hold him extra tight.

Imagination

I was reading over at a blog called "Parents Behaving Badly" and saw the best expression - "paranoid parental imagination." Seriously I love that! It hits the nail right on the head for my imagination sometimes. Yesterday, I was at Borders bookstore with my 2 1/2 year old and he never left my sight. A little boy, a little younger than my son, was hanging around us talking to us. His mother was nowhere in sight but I could hear someone calling out what I assume was this little boys name. I looked around and sure enough 2 rows down was a woman sitting on the floor calling out his name. I was floored. I asked if that was her son and she said yes and continued to read the book on the floor, barely looking at me.

I don't understand this at all. You know why? Shortly before this incident I saw a young man wandering around the children's section "looking" for books? I"ll be honest , it didn't look like he was looking for much of anything. I went to an employee of the store and asked them to go help the young man out so he could find what he needed and leave the children's section to the kids. Sure enough, when the employee asked the young man if he needed help he immediately said no what I want isn't here and promptly left the store. It was enough for me to let my "paranoid parental imagination" go crazy. More than enough. My husband makes fun of me sometimes because I always have to have my son in sight and not more than 2 arms lengths away from me anywhere outside of our home. Even in our home I keep a close eye on him even if he is playing by himself. I'm glad he finds it amusing because in my mind it's being a good parent. Times have changed, people have changed, things are not the way they used to be. I got lost 5 times when I was little because my parents had six of us and could never keep up with us. Fortunately I was never hurt but these days that may not have been the case.

Keep an eye on your kids and let your "paranoid parental imagination" go crazy! It may just save your kid one day.

Tonsillectomy Update

One of my worst moments being a mother to date has to have been when my son had his tonsils removed. Actually there were two separate moments during that time that stick out in my head. My son was 2 1/2 but had some mild sleep apnea due to his enlarged tonsils. So we made the decision to have his tonsils removed rather than wait and see if he grew into them. We chose a partial tonsillectomy using a microdebrider which is a powered rotary shaving device with continuous suction often used during sinus surgery. This procedure entails eliminating the obstructive portion of the tonsil while preserving the tonsillar capsule. A natural biologic dressing is left in place over the pharyngeal muscles, preventing injury, inflammation, and infection. The procedure results in less post-operative pain, a more rapid recovery, and perhaps fewer delayed complications. All of that was true but it was still a rough ride.

My son had his surgery in December. Two weeks before Christmas so that he would have plenty of time to recover before the holiday. Me I am still recovering but that is besides the point. It was an outpatient surgery so we went in early in the morning and we were back home by 2 pm. The thing I remember most that still breaks my hurt is my son coming back from the surgery and saying to me "It hurts - ow Mommy - kiss it make it better." As a mother you really want to believe that your kisses have that much power. You want to believe that if your child is ever suffering any kind of pain you can kiss it and make it all go away. For those occasional bumps and bruises it does work. Mostly because the little guy thinks it does and that's all that matters. For the big stuff though you feel helpless. I kissed his throat 100 times that day and it still didn't take his pain away. He kept wanting me to kiss it though so I did. Not only that but even these days I still have the power to make the little hurts go away. That first moment though is forever etched in my memory. He actually did great with the surgery because by the time we got home and loaded him up with some ice cream and Popsicles he was great. He even ate solid foods that night like there was nothing wrong.

The next day he acted like there was nothing wrong. Of course he was still in some discomfort but he was a trooper about it. The surgeon called us and was amazed at how well he was doing. He did make a comment though that prepared me for the days ahead which was "It will get worse before it gets better." I wanted to think he didn't know what he was talking about it but I had a feeling he did. Sure enough day 4 was his rough day. That was the day everything was healing and bothering him. That was my hardest day as a mother. The day when nothing I did was right, nothing I did helped him, and he was just as frustrated as I was. I remember when he finally went to sleep that night my husband called me and I told him that I just had my worst "mother" day to date and would very much like never to repeat it. I am sure I will have other challenging moments but honestly to date that has been the worst.

Now, I am grateful we had the procedure done. He sleeps so much better and wakes up 100 times more restful. He has always been a pleasant child but now he is even more pleasant and happy go lucky! If anyone is considering the procedure (especially on a child under 3 which they don't like to do in most cases) I would highly recommend talking to or finding a surgeon that will do a partial tonsillectomy using a microdebrider. The risk of the tonsils growing back were about 5% according to my doctor but in my opinion the benefits far outweigh the risk. I know my sons' recovery would have been alot worse had we not chosen that route.