A super, duper, emotional, sappy sort of mom. Okay, so I have known it for quite awhile now, but sometimes I am still caught off guard by the depth of my emotional connection to all things mother and child. I find myself getting misty eyed at the craziest things, and down right bawling over a simple little story. My friends actually look for my face in a crowd while listening to something remotely tear jerking, just to point and mouth the words, "I knew you would be crying!" It would be embarrassing....if I cared, but the truth is....I DON'T. I like the fact that I have reached a time in my life that I can totally set myself in another' shoes, and empathize with them. I am proud that I am so emotionally connected to this thing called MOTHERHOOD, that I tear up when witnessing another mother's joy, pride, sadness, love, frustration, fear, etc. I am grateful to be emotionally in tuned.
A few weeks back, on the Yahoo homepage, there was a news video featured. It stated that a 2 year old girl in Washington state had dialed 911 when her mother was unconscious, and informed the dispatcher that they needed help. Curiosity often kills the Corey, as I felt unable to NOT watch the video of this story. Being that I was at work, I soon wish I hadn't, as I was choked up so horribly I could barely talk. Co-workers wondered what had me in tears, so I showed them. I am certain they all thought I was insane. But seriously you have to check out this Video
I know...you may be sitting there and wondering what has me all worked up. I honestly can't tell you for sure, but my gut tells me that imagining that darling little girl scared for her mommy, and making that call....and having to wait for help to get there....just gets me right in the old heart strings. Am I just a sap, or am I just too willing to imagine myself and my daughter in that situation? I imagine Sugar Bear's fear at seeing me fall to the ground like that, and not wake up. Okay...just typing that got me a little worked up. sniff...sniff...it is really too hard for me to imagine. Do others just not imagine such things? Do others just listen to the story, yet not apply it to their life? Is that my problem? Who knows...and I suppose it doesn't matter, as I am fine being just who I am.
Besides realizing how terrifically emotional I can be....this video got me wondering if I should teach Sugar Bear how to call 911. Seriously, it never crossed my mind before watching this video. She often plays with my cell phone, and she talks to people on the phone after I dial them up for her, but I have never once even considered the idea of teaching her how to use the phone. I suppose even now at nearly 3 years old, I worry that she will make calls when I am not paying attention, or worse...dial 911 once...or often. I mean, I can totally see how teaching her to call 911 would be a great skill, but how do you help her understand it is only for emergencies?
So...I am asking....all of YOU....the parents....when do you feel it is appropriate to teach your child how to use the phone? What have you done, and how did it turn out? What do you wish you had done differently?
I appreciate your thoughts on this, as I am truly amazed that a dear sweet 2 year old actually called for help, but I just can't get past the idea that some pretty unnecessary calls might be made if I even attempted to show Sugar Bear how to use the phone.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
I Must Be A Mom....
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13 Live It or Love It:
Hello, nice blog you have. Seems so upbeat.
Hi, Corey. I just found your blog this morning and will be back regularly to visit. I am the mother of a 28 month old son, and I have also pondered your question about the best time to teach a child to use the phone.
We had an embarrassing experience when on vacation at a beach condo last year, and my son got ahold of the phone. One of the preset buttons had been programmed to dial 911, and of course, that's the button that he pushed. When I realized that he had been playing with the phone, I placed it out of his reach, but not before the phone rang with a 911 operator on the other end. I sheepishly explained that my two-year-old had been playing with the phone and that there was no emergency. To my horror, she explained that she was required to send an officer anyway to check the situation. I had visions of being carted away to jail for allowing my child to play with a phone. The officer who responded to the condo was very kind and did not scold us too harshly. Lesson learned.
I think it would depend on the child's maturity level as to when to teach the 911 lesson. It sounds like your daughter might be ready for it. Let us know how it goes (if you choose to do so).
That video made me cry too. We have discussed calling 911 with the boys, and told them they only call if there is a fire or a BIG boo boo and Mom or Dad can't wake up.
Corey, I've been having the exact same dilemma in my mind lately after seeing this story on the Today show. I've been wondering whether or not to teach Maya about 911, but I don't want to scare or confuse her, and I really don't know how to impress upon her the "just for emergencies" thing. *sigh*
Corey - you and Laura are so much my mind twins, it's crazy. Except I get so emotional over things like this, I cannot even WATCH THE VIDEO. Just reading about it gets me worked up. I have always been emotional, but becoming a mother made me turbo-emotional!!
Anyway, I wondered about teaching D about 911, too, but I am going to hold off for now. I can just see us having weekly visits from the police as follow-ups to 911 hang-ups, KWIM? I think it is VERY important to teach children these things, but it's not the right time for us - yet.
Oh Corey, I too am an emotional basket case when it involves children.
My mother in law just taught Gavin how to dial 911 on his pretend spider man phone this last summer. I hadn't thought he was ready at four and a half. But now I think he was. No accidental calls to 911 yet, but last week when he got in trouble for something he got out his phone, looked at me and said "I'm going to call the police on you mommy because you got me in trouble" LOL
It was a good teaching opportunity to stress that 911 is only for real emergencies.
K's preschool taught the children to dial 911 in an emergency. K still sings the song they used to teach them once a week. When she learned we went over the reasons you WOULD call 911 and the reasons you wouldn't.
Welcome Julie! It is so nice to have you visit. :) How did you find me. I tried to follow you back...but I keep getting an error. :( Anyhow, your story is precisely why I am just not sure I want my girl using the phone just yet.
Thank you to everyone that has pitch in their thoughts so far. I am glad I am not the only emotional fool. tee hee....and also glad that I am not the only mom hesitant to teach their young child how to dial 911. I think that I will give 3 more months and reassess her maturity at that time.
Keep the idea coming. :)
oh and Cami....can you sing us the 911 song on your vlog next week? wink wink!
I hate to admit that we left it up to preschool to teach my older girls about 911 and using the phone. Actually I just plain hadn't thought Abby was ready until she started talking about one day after school. So I waited for Hannah to go through the same class as well when she hit preschool. We talk about it every so often now to keep it in their minds in case of an emergency, and are careful to remind them what an 'emergency' is and isn't. So far we haven't had any false alarm calls to 911 and I can only hope that they'd remember what to do if they ever needed to...
I haven't seem that video, although I did hear about the story. I think I'll wait until I'm home tonight to watch it though... :)
This filled me up too.
I think I taught Miss E 999 (UK version) at 3. She knew her address and phone number then, so we did 999 next.
I think Miss M would dial 999 at the wrong time at the moment, but each child is different so it's hard to say.
What an amazing little girl.
You're not the only one - I'm a big sap and cry at things too! I'm amazed the 2yr old remembered how to dial 911 -her mom said she only showed her a few months ago. wow. I'm also impressed the 911 operator could understand that little voice!
I am not going to watch the video as I can tell you, for certain, I would soon be covered in tears and snot!! We found a kid-friendly book AGES ago at Target that explained when you should cal 911. It even had a dial pad on it so that a child could practice dialing the numbers. When they got it correct, there was a siren noise and a voice saying, "Emergency rescue is on the way. Good job!" In regards to teaching Little Bear to use the phone, start with someone she knows first. Some cordless phones can be difficult for kids to use, so make sure she knows all the buttons. Just take it little by little each day, and bring it up often.
Hi Corey, I'm late getting here, but Snags has known to call 911 for an emergency since he was 2 probably. But he's got food allergies and so it's a lesson he had to learn early. I think preschool started teaching the kids by 3 for sure, with a warning about not playing with the phone.
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