Every Little Thing by April Jeppson

 

A note about myself. I get motion sick. I’m at a point where I went on a swing set this summer and had to stop because I was getting dizzy. As a child, I enjoyed going on roller coasters with my dad, but I’d have to take Dramamine first. Not only do I get motion sick, but I also have a slight fear of enclosed water slides. I don’t mind the city pool slide — it has an open top. However, there’s something about being on an inner tube, in an enclosed dark space with water everywhere that just makes my spidey senses stand on end.

Rational April knows that I’m not going to get trapped in the slide and drown. So rational April says yes when her family wants to go on a big tube and go down a water slide together. So off we go up the stairs. I even went to great lengths to convince my 6-year-old that this would be fun. Up more stairs. Wow, we’re really going up a lot of stairs — my spidey senses are warning me, but I’m telling them to “shhhh.”

By the time we get to the top, I walk right over to my husband and whisper to him how scared I am. I don’t want the kids to see me fearful. I don’t want to put my irrational thoughts on them. I stay calm, but my insides are freaking out. I whisper to the young lifeguard. “Is this tube going to flip over?” He assures me that it won’t. I then asked where was the safest place to sit. With zero regard for my young children’s safety, I claim that space as mine.

I get in the tube with my family. I smile and pray that we don’t get stuck. I know that I should have kept my eyes open because that helps with the motion sickness, but I was also in an enclosed water slide. I really didn’t want to scream at the top of my lungs with my kids right there. You know, didn’t want to freak them out.

After it was over, I had my youngest whimpering about how she didn’t like it, my middle daughter said she had no desire to do that again and my oldest loved it so much he went back with his dad a few more times to ride. I could barely walk. I was able to get to our table and sit down and that’s where I stayed for the next 90 minutes as the world spun and my stomach churned.

Is this my life now? Am I at that age where I tell the youngins to go off and play, and I’ll be right here watching them? Am I destined to be a passenger in my life and not an active participant? As I sat by myself waiting for the room to stop spinning, I pondered many things.

I thought about how I bet I could have done it if I would have only packed some motion sickness pills. I also thought about those cool behind the ear stickers I wore on my cruise last winter. If you get motion sick, I highly recommend them. I didn’t get sick at all on the boat. Perhaps that’s why I didn’t think to come prepared — maybe it’s been so long since I’ve been dizzy that I forgot how awful it feels.

My kids are old enough to remember that one time Mommy got sick from the big water slide. I’m guessing they won’t invite me to do it again. Part of me is relieved. Then there’s a small part of me that doesn’t want to throw in the towel just yet. For as horrible as it was, I might just have to pack those patches in my backpack — you know, just in case.

Albert Lean April Jeppson is a wife, mom, coach and encourager of dreams.