Not even the Jaws of Life could pry those lips open.
Whenever my son Micah saw a pill coming his direction, his mouth clamped shut like a bear trap.
Since Micah has cystic fibrosis and takes a wide range of medications, this has presented a wee bit of a dilemma.
Over the years, I had become quite creative in working around this problem.
I’ve asked for liquid versions of medications. Broken open capsules and had him sprinkle them down his throat. Crushed them like a pharmacist and sprinkled them over his food.
Until one day, I didn’t. He had to take a course of antibiotics and these were some of the biggest honkin’ pills I’d ever seen. Ginormous.
I called the doctor’s office and asked about a liquid. “Yes, he could take a liquid but he will have to drink about a gallon of it,” the nurse explained.
It was then that I knew my mission.
He had some success swallowing Tic-Tacs and M&Ms. Then, I brought out the big guns. “I’m cutting this pill in half and you ARE going to swallow it. You are not leaving this spot until you have done it. It is time to MAN UP. Show me what a man you can be!”
Well, he sure as heck wanted to be a man. Doesn’t every 12-year-old boy? That was the magic word. Two seconds later, that puppy was taking a slippery ride down his manly intestines.
Mission accomplished, right? Well, not so fast. A few days later he was set to go to church camp. And suddenly he regressed. “I can’t do this anymore! I can’t swallow it! ”
I was tempted to send out for the gallon bottles of antibiotics. And then I realized that the Camp Nurse could handle this setback — probably better than I could. So I nervously packed the horse pills.
A week later, the bottle came back from camp — empty. And it’s never been a problem since.
We moms don’t have to do it all, you know.
I’ve enlisted teachers and tutors to talk tough to my kids when I couldn’t seem to drive a message home. In the course of a season, I’ve seen coaches instill teamwork and a work ethic in my kids — in a way I haven’t been able to after years of instruction.
I’ve even encouraged situations where my kids’ friends could hold them accountable in behaviors that I couldn’t seem to change. (Being late for walking to the bus stop, for example.)
We can put the “pill” in our kids’ mouths and lay the foundation for success. But sometimes we need to allow or enlist an outsider to be the “glass of water” that helps them internalize our messages.
Watching someone else easily achieve what we could not can be a tough pill to swallow, mamas. But it doesn’t make the success of our kids any less sweet.
11 Comments
The “man way” is what got my son swallowing pills at 4. And as I teacher I have seen firsthand how sometimes outsiders can easily get kids to do something their parents haven’t been able to do. It’s not a weakness in the parents at all, it’s totally normal.
Oh thank GOD for other beautiful and encouraging influences in our children’s lives!!! Don’t we all need them? I am so proud of my children because they are doing so well in school! I credit that to the teachers, and know that if I were homeschooling them…oh they would act so differently with me!! (I love my homeschool friends and kids and support this ministry 100%. It is amazing what my friends do with their children! I just don’t see me doing it…my kids need someone ELSE to push them in that direction of growth in academics…) What a prayer for all of us mothers: That God bring people in our children’s lives that can guide and teach them things we cannot. A prayer for us as well!! How many times I need a close friend to point out things to me that I otherwise would not have received as well coming from my husband or my own mother etc. Community is a beautiful blessing!!!
{Melinda} Beautiful comment, Chris! I am 100% with you on homeschooling. I have friends who are doing an AMAZING job with it. But I just know that it would not work for my family. I’ve considered it at different points — very strongly. But, ultimately, it just didn’t seem to ever make sense — given their temperments and ways of learning — and mine! 🙂
You are so right — community is a beautiful thing!
So very true – I think that’s part of why God made us to want to be around each other. We help each other, old and young and everything in between, as we navigate this world together.
{Melinda} Exactly, Kristin! He made us to be in community with one another — supporting each other and our families!
I love this message! Part of why I didn’t feel utterly utterly guilty when I had to go back to work – I mean besides supporting my family hello – was that P. came home having built upon lessons I taught her in extraordinary ways. More adventurous. More willing to try new things. More interested in her letters and counting. We still work on all of that at home, but I love having the support of an amazing in-home care provider who has a background in education!
{Melinda} Different people bring out different strengths and skills in our children — you’ll find this all their lives as they mature and grow.
Thank you for stopping by and commenting!
Wow. I’m a firm believer in the “it takes a village” approach, but this takes it one step further for me. I’m happy to step in when friends need it, but I never thought to ask. Brilliant, ladies. Simply brilliant. Sharing this on FB for sure!
{Melinda} Thank you, Michelle! We appreciate you sharing! It can seem hard to ask, but people are so willing to help and be a part of assisting us in guiding our children. We just have to choose carefully, right? 🙂 God always seems to lead me and my kids to the right people at the right time.