I think I need to spend some time working with adults again. You see, I work from home. I stay mostly at home and it is affecting my ability to work properly with adults when the occasion requires it.
Example One: I perform a board rescue scenario on Sunday morning. My "patient" was an impressively muscular young man who I had to resuscitate in open water, then get up on my board and paddle him back into shore. With my nose practically nestled between his buttocks, I didn't admire the lovely speedo -esque landscape in front of me. Instead, all I could think was:" I hope he's got enough sunscreen on."
Later, a similar situation ensued where I applied first aid in a scenario, this time to a young woman. Rather than recall the phrase RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevate) my brain was frantically scrambling to recall if I had Wiggles bandaids in my handbag or Hi-5 ones and if so, which would she prefer? The patient in question was in her late twenties. And her alleged injury? broken collarbone.
Awesome.
I love being a parent. I am fully aware of how lucky I am to be one. But I am also an adult. And I often forget that I myself am (usually) reasonably intelligent and articulate and don't always have to be a mother.
I'm not thinking of quelling my instinctively nurturing nature by any means, rather, I intend to nourish and encourage the other parts of my tragically underused skills.
So this week I am making a point of phoning people and holding ADULT conversations. Please don't be alarmed if I phone YOU out of the blue and start chatting away with you. I'll talk about things like what I really thought of Tony Abbot's remarks about women ironing at home....which reminds me, I must dash, I still need to wash and iron my son's school uniform for tomorrow.