It’s been a hot minute since I’ve had a moment of pure panic. I’m typically a very calm person, cool under pressure and not easily flustered. Today I had a short lived moment and my kids didn’t know what hit them.
Rewind. We woke up to a beautiful day and it happened to be the first day of summer, so we decided to make it a beach day. Hubby is working today so I knew it was going to be just me and my three girls. This is not unusual but when we go to the beach, I’m usually on high alert. I make sure we have all our beach gear together. This means no less than 4 bags and maybe a cooler. I’m extra careful about my purse and valuables too. It’s always a little bit stressful for me but they enjoy the beach, so I gladly suck it up and go with it.
It was a glorious day playing in the water and on the sand. No one drowned. That’s my biggest concern when I’m alone with three girls at the beach. My second biggest concern is losing something valuable such as my wallet, keys or phone. When it was time to leave, I carefully packed up everything and we put some things into the car and headed towards the showers to rinse off. With my purse in hand and beach bag on the shoulder, we were in good shape. Yup, one, two, three girls, check. I set down our bags right next to the showers in a dry spot and as each girls finished, they grabbed their towels from the big beach bag. I put my purse in the beach bag and continued to rinse off the beach toys and reef walkers that my kids love. Okay, all done now. Let’s go home.
I grabbed the bag and all three kids followed me to the car, about 50 yards away. Half way to the car, I reach for my purse, which is not on my shoulder. Sheer panic enveloped me and I think I whispered in S-L-O-W motion, the “F” word. I ran back towards the showers and when almost there, I remembered that I had casually placed my purse inside the bag that was hanging on my shoulder. Boy did I feel like a dumbass. My youngest said “Mommy you really scared me!!!”. I apologized quickly and was actually glad none of the people on the beach saw my moment of pure panic.
We all had a laugh because I am always so careful when out alone with my kids but sometimes distraction and loss of focus happens. Routine tasks can be so routine that we don’t even realize what we’re doing. Today I learned that even the most careful moms can have a moment and it’s ok. We just need to maintain focus with all that’s going on in our life. It all worked out in the end. I’m still a careful mom. At least my kids had a great day.
Live-Love-La-Pasion 