WEBVTT
1
00:00:16.559 --> 00:00:19.399
Welcome back to We Are the Hands Ends. Today we're
2
00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:22.640
talking about something that every family has to deal with
3
00:00:22.839 --> 00:00:27.480
at some point, emergencies. But when you have a big
4
00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:33.600
family like ours, emergencies can be even more intense. Whether
5
00:00:33.640 --> 00:00:35.600
it's a medical crisis.
6
00:00:35.719 --> 00:00:40.640
A house problem, or a last minute schedule change. We've
7
00:00:40.719 --> 00:00:44.880
learned a lot about stay calm and handling things efficiencily,
8
00:00:46.200 --> 00:00:51.520
so let's dive in to how we keep things under
9
00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:55.240
control when chaos hits in our family.
10
00:00:56.719 --> 00:01:00.840
I'm going to start off by saying, our family has
11
00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:04.239
a lot of chaos that happens, and if you've ever
12
00:01:04.359 --> 00:01:08.680
listened to some of our previous episodes, you will see
13
00:01:08.840 --> 00:01:11.680
what I'm talking about. I'm going to tell you a
14
00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:16.799
few stories to start. Some of our major emergencies end
15
00:01:16.879 --> 00:01:24.040
up when we take a vacation. It's always just crazy things.
16
00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:29.040
One time, you know, we were going to visit family
17
00:01:29.480 --> 00:01:33.799
for a wedding, and we're on our way and we
18
00:01:33.879 --> 00:01:39.799
got about I'm going to say, twenty minutes from our
19
00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:44.239
destination where we were gonna all relax and hang out
20
00:01:44.359 --> 00:01:49.359
get everything ready for this wedding. Lo and behold. I
21
00:01:49.400 --> 00:01:53.319
was driving, I ended up hitting a deer and it
22
00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:57.200
rolled down the side of the car kicked out, well,
23
00:01:57.239 --> 00:02:00.200
it broke the windshield, but it kicked out all all
24
00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:03.920
of the side windows on the driver's side. Needless to say,
25
00:02:04.599 --> 00:02:08.240
the car it was not total. It was still drivable.
26
00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:12.159
It just didn't have windows. So we had to have
27
00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:16.240
somebody come and get the vehicle and take it to
28
00:02:16.319 --> 00:02:20.439
their shop and have a glass company the next day
29
00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:23.960
come and put in the windows. Needless to say, that
30
00:02:24.039 --> 00:02:27.719
trip cost us a lot of money. We had to
31
00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:30.479
get all the windows replaced, which was like nine hundred
32
00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:36.000
and some dollars. All the expenses going and food, everything
33
00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:39.360
like that, and all the gas and everything, and then
34
00:02:40.159 --> 00:02:44.120
gas back home. That trip was not very fun at all.
35
00:02:44.599 --> 00:02:48.439
I had glass in my feet because I was wearing sandals.
36
00:02:49.159 --> 00:02:53.199
My little girl had glass in her ears and in
37
00:02:53.240 --> 00:02:57.879
her hair all over her. It was a mess. That's
38
00:02:57.919 --> 00:03:03.039
all I have to say. Situation we had happened was
39
00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:07.039
we had to get together at our house and we
40
00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:10.719
had a lot of people there. It was getting late
41
00:03:10.759 --> 00:03:13.560
and everybody started to leave and we were all just
42
00:03:13.639 --> 00:03:15.879
hanging out by the fire while the kids had went
43
00:03:15.960 --> 00:03:20.560
inside and they were all playing in the house. While
44
00:03:21.159 --> 00:03:24.000
they decided to play hide and go seek in the house. Well,
45
00:03:24.039 --> 00:03:28.319
one of my boys was running to hide, and I
46
00:03:28.360 --> 00:03:33.039
had just gotten this glass display case that hangs on
47
00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:35.479
the wall from my mother in law. She redid it
48
00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:38.639
and it was very old, so the glass was like
49
00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:42.840
very thin and brittle. Well, I had it laying on
50
00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:45.840
my bed and my son didn't know it, and he
51
00:03:46.039 --> 00:03:47.800
ran in there to hide, and he was going to
52
00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:50.439
jump on the bed to get to the other side,
53
00:03:50.520 --> 00:03:55.039
and he put his elbow through the glass on the bed.
54
00:03:55.719 --> 00:04:00.319
Needless to say, I am not very good with blood
55
00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:04.080
or any type of emergency situation like that when it
56
00:04:04.120 --> 00:04:08.240
comes to my children. So when my one son yelled
57
00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:12.719
out the door mom Tristan got cut, I was like,
58
00:04:12.919 --> 00:04:16.680
oh no, So I went running into the house. His
59
00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:20.839
arm was split wide open, so I quick grabbed a
60
00:04:20.879 --> 00:04:23.600
towel wrapped his arm, and I was like, I gotta go.
61
00:04:23.879 --> 00:04:26.399
So a friend of ours took me to the emergency room.
62
00:04:26.920 --> 00:04:33.000
We got there and he needed fifteen stitches in his
63
00:04:33.160 --> 00:04:36.399
arm from putting his elbow through the glass. That was
64
00:04:36.439 --> 00:04:40.759
a nightmare. I was blacking out as they were stitching
65
00:04:40.839 --> 00:04:45.040
him because, like I said, I don't do blood very well.
66
00:04:45.639 --> 00:04:49.120
Ended up getting out of there probably three in the
67
00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:52.480
morning somewhere like that. It was late. He got all
68
00:04:52.519 --> 00:04:55.800
cleaned up and stitched up, and we were good to go.
69
00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:02.240
Those are the times that I can't handle. My husband
70
00:05:02.360 --> 00:05:07.560
is amazing with handling situations like this. I remember when
71
00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:10.399
my son Tristan was a little boy. Him and my
72
00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:14.600
son Gavin were playing ball at my sister's house. Gavin
73
00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:17.480
threw the ball to Tristan and the ball rolled by
74
00:05:17.519 --> 00:05:21.639
their dog and it was a little dotson. Tristan reached
75
00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:25.040
down to pick up the ball and the dotson jumped
76
00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:28.560
up and bit him in the face and he ended
77
00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:32.040
up with eight stitches. That time, I was blacking out
78
00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:33.920
trying to get him to the door. Of that time too,
79
00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:38.399
I just something about when it happens to your children.
80
00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:41.519
I'm not very strong in a situation like that. It
81
00:05:41.560 --> 00:05:46.560
makes me feel bad, and I just can't handle seeing
82
00:05:46.600 --> 00:05:50.319
my kids in pain at all. So when I say that,
83
00:05:50.839 --> 00:05:54.240
I'm telling you it's not good. Jeremy, on the other hand,
84
00:05:54.319 --> 00:05:57.120
he deals with it like a champ. The next thing
85
00:05:57.160 --> 00:06:02.879
I want to talk about is another situation that I
86
00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:06.759
was put in. I didn't do so well either. My
87
00:06:06.920 --> 00:06:11.800
little Anna, she never had seizures, she had a lot
88
00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:14.800
of medical at birth because she was born three pounds
89
00:06:15.959 --> 00:06:19.519
and she had to have a shunt placed in the brain. Well,
90
00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:23.920
I wasn't prepared. One morning, it was early in the
91
00:06:23.959 --> 00:06:30.399
morning and my daughter Madison yelled, mom Anna, and I
92
00:06:30.439 --> 00:06:32.720
had heard a thud, but I thought it was her
93
00:06:32.920 --> 00:06:36.120
dancing around in the living room. So I jumped out
94
00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:39.759
of my bed and ran out there, and here my
95
00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:45.240
little Anna is on the floor, full on seizure, and
96
00:06:45.319 --> 00:06:49.240
my heart is just pounding out of my chest. Seeing
97
00:06:49.240 --> 00:06:53.040
her like that, I was trying to figure out what
98
00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:55.720
to do. I've never been in a situation where I
99
00:06:55.800 --> 00:06:58.399
was around somebody that had seizures, so I had no
100
00:06:58.600 --> 00:07:02.920
clue what to do. Jeremy came out and I handed
101
00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:06.480
her to him. I hurried up to my bedroom and
102
00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:09.879
I'm trying to get dressed and out of my pajamas
103
00:07:09.879 --> 00:07:12.319
into regular clothes so that I could get her to
104
00:07:12.360 --> 00:07:16.160
the hospital. And I'm yelling out there as I'm getting dressed,
105
00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:18.879
do I need to call nine on one? Because Jeremy
106
00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:22.439
has been a lifeguard, so he knew exactly what to do.
107
00:07:23.319 --> 00:07:28.480
He's very calm, so it helped a lot because that
108
00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:31.759
helped me be calm. I guess even though I was
109
00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:36.000
really panicking inside because I was seeing my little girl
110
00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:40.519
go through that, and I'm telling you it's not something
111
00:07:40.680 --> 00:07:44.639
anybody should have to see or go through at all.
112
00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:48.959
Needless to say, we didn't call the ambulance. I called
113
00:07:48.959 --> 00:07:53.600
the clinic and her doctor got her in and she said,
114
00:07:54.120 --> 00:07:56.519
I can either call the ambulance or you guys can
115
00:07:56.560 --> 00:07:58.399
take her there and I'll call up there to the
116
00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:01.800
er and let them know coming to the hospital. We
117
00:08:01.879 --> 00:08:03.639
got to do something. We got to figure out why
118
00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:07.759
she's having seizures. So we decided to take her ourselves.
119
00:08:08.279 --> 00:08:11.079
We got up there, they took us right in checkter.
120
00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:15.839
Needless to say, we don't know what kind of seizure
121
00:08:15.959 --> 00:08:19.240
she's having. She is on seizure med I'm still very
122
00:08:19.319 --> 00:08:23.560
frightened because she's had multiple seizures since, and I just
123
00:08:23.639 --> 00:08:26.920
pray every day that I wake up that I never
124
00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:31.600
have to see another seizure on my child again. But
125
00:08:31.720 --> 00:08:36.480
those are some of the things that I personally have
126
00:08:36.639 --> 00:08:41.240
seen and been through. I don't do good in emergency situations.
127
00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:45.960
My kids, my younger ones, don't do good in emergency situations.
128
00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:50.360
There has been multiple times that I've been in a
129
00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:55.039
car accident. I panic every time. My first instinct is
130
00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:58.879
to make sure my children are okay, because even if
131
00:08:58.919 --> 00:09:02.000
I'm hurt, I will wait and I'll make sure they're
132
00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:06.320
okay first. I'm telling you I do not do good
133
00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:10.480
in emergency situations. My kids are definitely a big help
134
00:09:10.799 --> 00:09:15.720
in emergency situations now. When my husband Jeremy had his
135
00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:19.679
heart attack, I handled it a lot better than I
136
00:09:19.799 --> 00:09:23.639
do with my children. I think it's because he's older
137
00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:28.759
and he knows what he is feeling. My little ones
138
00:09:28.919 --> 00:09:33.600
have no idea, so seeing an adult versus a child
139
00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:38.399
is definitely a different thing in how I feel and
140
00:09:38.440 --> 00:09:42.279
how I handle emergencies. It was scary for me to
141
00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:45.840
see Jeremy when he had his heart attack, but I
142
00:09:45.960 --> 00:09:50.519
handled it a lot different. I wasn't as panicky, even
143
00:09:50.559 --> 00:09:52.799
though my heart was beating out of my chest for
144
00:09:52.879 --> 00:09:57.200
him too. I didn't have that panic attack like I
145
00:09:57.240 --> 00:10:01.440
did with my children. I know my husband strong, and
146
00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:05.000
I know he knows what to do in that situation.
147
00:10:05.720 --> 00:10:09.879
So when I took him in, I prayed the whole
148
00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:13.080
time while we were there that they figure it out
149
00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:16.080
and help him so that I don't have to see
150
00:10:16.120 --> 00:10:20.320
him go through that again, and I pray every day
151
00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:25.759
for our family that we have better luck and no emergencies.
152
00:10:26.440 --> 00:10:32.080
Because I cannot handle emergencies. It's almost like trauma that
153
00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:36.440
when I see that, I'm so traumatized by it. I
154
00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:39.919
don't know, it's very different and hard to explain. I'm
155
00:10:39.960 --> 00:10:43.919
sure there are other people like me that can't handle
156
00:10:44.120 --> 00:10:47.440
or deal with emergency situations, and I am definitely not
157
00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:51.720
one to deal with emergency situations. My older kids they
158
00:10:51.720 --> 00:10:56.519
can handle them, perfect emergency situations to them, they're you
159
00:10:56.559 --> 00:10:59.679
know right there. It's I guess it's more of the girls.
160
00:10:59.720 --> 00:11:03.559
I guess that can't handle them, Like maybe it's just
161
00:11:03.639 --> 00:11:07.120
a boy girl thing. I don't know. But my boys
162
00:11:07.360 --> 00:11:11.399
they're really good about handling emergency situations. You know, like
163
00:11:11.559 --> 00:11:16.639
when somebody's sick in the home, it's not really an
164
00:11:16.639 --> 00:11:23.240
emergency situation unless it becomes like they can't breathe or
165
00:11:23.240 --> 00:11:27.399
something with Anna like her getting sick a lot that stuff.
166
00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:30.960
I don't worry about that unless it's to that point
167
00:11:31.399 --> 00:11:35.120
where I know it's time, and that's when I start
168
00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:39.120
to worry and start to have my panic attacks. Jere Me,
169
00:11:39.240 --> 00:11:43.559
on the other hand, he's very mellow during emergency situations
170
00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:46.480
as I am more frantic, let's put it that way.
171
00:11:46.840 --> 00:11:52.279
Just handling child's chronic illness, it's a struggle for me,
172
00:11:52.960 --> 00:11:57.679
But I don't panic unless it's something that like the
173
00:11:57.720 --> 00:12:03.639
seizures or high feel hardly being able to breathe, stuff
174
00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:06.000
like that. That's when I start to panic. It's more
175
00:12:06.039 --> 00:12:11.240
of the intense situation that I can't deal with. I'm
176
00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:16.559
horrible at it. With a family this size, household issues
177
00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:24.639
can feel like mini crisises. However, like power outages, plumbing
178
00:12:24.679 --> 00:12:28.600
and water lakes, stuff like that. I can handle car
179
00:12:28.679 --> 00:12:33.120
breaking down. I can handle car accidents, not so much.
180
00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:38.200
When one of our children is overwhelmed or anxious, feeling
181
00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:43.919
are valid and everyone gets a safe space. Sometimes a
182
00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:48.840
child just needs a quiet moment alone or a hug
183
00:12:49.559 --> 00:12:54.799
or reinsurance that everything is going to be okay. When
184
00:12:55.240 --> 00:12:59.480
we have a situation like with the seizure or Tristan
185
00:12:59.480 --> 00:13:02.879
putting his own through the glass, or a car accident
186
00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:07.159
that we were involved in, or anything like that. Especially
187
00:13:08.200 --> 00:13:11.879
our kids knowing their dad is having a heart attack,
188
00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:16.879
that is scary for them and they need reassurance, all
189
00:13:16.919 --> 00:13:20.200
of them that things are going to be okay. Things
190
00:13:20.279 --> 00:13:24.799
will work out. When we feel overwhelmed, you know, we
191
00:13:24.919 --> 00:13:28.879
check on each other if one of us is panicking
192
00:13:29.159 --> 00:13:34.120
and whatever. We're always there for each other. We are
193
00:13:34.159 --> 00:13:37.200
the adults, so we're supposed to be there for our
194
00:13:37.279 --> 00:13:40.600
children as well, and that's what we are. We are
195
00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:46.039
a family that is very close, and when emergency situations happen,
196
00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:50.759
all of our kids come together. We all come together.
197
00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:54.320
All of our kids are there, everyone is jumping into
198
00:13:54.320 --> 00:13:58.200
help we're needed, and we just go and take it
199
00:13:58.279 --> 00:14:02.159
day by day or step by step, however we get
200
00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:06.159
through it. Teaching our kids to stay calm and think
201
00:14:06.200 --> 00:14:10.919
clearly is one of our big things because we want
202
00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:15.799
our kids to grow up knowing how to handle emergencies themselves.
203
00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:19.399
And I do not like to panic in front of
204
00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:23.399
my kids. But it also is very hard, well for
205
00:14:23.480 --> 00:14:26.720
me anyway, it's very hard. I don't like seeing my
206
00:14:26.840 --> 00:14:29.519
kids like that. I don't like seeing my husband like that.
207
00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:33.399
I don't like seeing their pain. I wish I could
208
00:14:33.399 --> 00:14:37.320
take it away from them. I don't like seeing them hurt.
209
00:14:37.399 --> 00:14:42.960
And I think I try to catch myself and relax
210
00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:46.360
and show that I'm stronger than I really am. But
211
00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:50.879
in emergency situations I am not very strong, and I
212
00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:55.559
try to stay strong because the power of staying strong
213
00:14:56.600 --> 00:14:59.639
is good for our kids to see. We tell our
214
00:14:59.720 --> 00:15:04.200
kids panic never helps, so take a deep breath, you know,
215
00:15:04.279 --> 00:15:07.960
assess the situation, and act smartly. I try and think
216
00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:10.919
of that all the time when I am in an
217
00:15:10.960 --> 00:15:14.879
emergency situation. My husband, on the other hand, he is
218
00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:19.399
like butter, just smooth when it comes to emergency situations.
219
00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:24.799
He handles it so well, and I try and watch
220
00:15:24.840 --> 00:15:29.600
him and take lessons from him, but I guess I
221
00:15:29.639 --> 00:15:33.320
still haven't learned yet. It's pretty hard, and I want
222
00:15:33.320 --> 00:15:37.320
my kids to be able to handle emergency situations with
223
00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:41.440
ease like my husband as opposed to me. I'm telling
224
00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:47.200
you it's a lot different. Him and me are so
225
00:15:47.360 --> 00:15:52.039
different in that situation. At the end of the day,
226
00:15:52.759 --> 00:15:56.919
when it comes to an emergency situation, we are all
227
00:15:56.960 --> 00:16:00.759
there for each other. My kids know how I am
228
00:16:00.919 --> 00:16:04.399
as a mom, and they know I panic when it
229
00:16:04.440 --> 00:16:09.039
comes to scary and emergency situations. They try to be
230
00:16:09.159 --> 00:16:13.480
there for me as well. First it's whoever's in this situation,
231
00:16:14.120 --> 00:16:17.240
but then it's Mom, are you okay, calm down, It's okay,
232
00:16:17.480 --> 00:16:21.080
it's okay. I'm a crier. I cry when I get mad,
233
00:16:21.759 --> 00:16:25.960
and I also cry when there's an emergency situation. It's
234
00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:30.840
just how I am. I try to not cry. I
235
00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:34.200
try to keep the tears shut off, just because I
236
00:16:34.200 --> 00:16:36.639
don't want my kids to see me in that state.
237
00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:41.279
It's already bad enough that they see me panicking. I'm
238
00:16:41.320 --> 00:16:46.279
not good with blood and I'm not good with seizures,
239
00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:51.240
and I am definitely not good when it comes to
240
00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:55.200
getting in an accident at all. So at the end
241
00:16:55.279 --> 00:16:59.919
of the day, emergencies are going to happen. It's just
242
00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:04.839
part of life. What we've learned is that staying prepared,
243
00:17:05.720 --> 00:17:09.960
staying calm, and leaning on each other makes all the difference.