That Gnawing Feeling

Do you know that feeling you get in your stomach when you hear your child is hurt? My stomach usually flip-flops. And it’s happened twice this week.

Monday morning Mr. A knocked on my bedroom door to tell me that G-Man threw up.

Flip-flop.

Pause.

Go into Mom Mode.

This afternoon Mr. A called after school as soon as the last bell rang.

“How do you know if your thumb is broken?”

Flip-flop.

For his final Engineering project, Mr. A made an air cannon. Imagine the t-shirt cannons you see at ball games. However, eldest son used a SCUBA tank for his compressed air source. The project was a success but it eventually one of the fittings blew apart injuring Mr. A’s thumb.

My Sweetie has Mr. A at the urgent care getting an x-ray at the moment and I’m waiting. Logically, I know he’s fine, even if the thumb turns out to be broken. But I still have this gnawing feeling in my stomach. A gnawing feeling that will remain until I get word from my husband.

Both of my children are now young men. G-Man made it to the bathroom on time. He didn’t need his Mom to help him. Sure he accepted a hug but I didn’t have to rock him on my lap to help quell his tears like I did so many years ago. Mr. A will be away at school and in the Navy in only six more weeks.

Will I always get that flip-flop feeling when children get hurt? Will I always have that gnawing feeling when I worry about them?