Heavy Hearted Tonight…

Today, I had a conversation that brought me to tears. I try very hard to not judge people on the decisions they make, especially if I don’t know anything about their situation. I don’t expect people to understand my point of view or my stance on things, but I guess I think that we could respectfully disagree. The old phrase of not judging people unless you’ve walked in their shoes was the theme of my day.

I’ve mentioned here before about Mason’s allergies. Dave and I have chosen to home-school him. At least for now. This is not a permanent decision, but one that is strictly based on us keeping our child safe. I’ve been called overprotective, sheltering, paranoid… you name it. But I’ve been called this by people who have no idea what we go through each day. These people haven’t nearly watched their child die from an anaphylactic reaction to a drop of milk. These people don’t have to think twice about their kid touching a shopping cart or playground equipment. They don’t live a life where going out to eat is nothing other than a nightmare. Yet it’s these people who make comments to me about something they know nothing about. And it’s hard to take it, ignore it and walk away.

Walk a day in my shoes, where every second inside and outside of our home is spent protecting him from a substance that could kill him. Not just hurt him, but has the potential to take his life away. Watch your child nearly die from just ONE thing on the list of items he’s allergic to and then tell me you’d send him to public school. Or you’d send him into the hands of someone who knows little about your situation and has 10, 15, 20+ other kids to worry about. Tell me you’d just hand him over…and then watch him come home in hives, struggle with chronic asthma/cough, scratch himself until he bleeds- or put him on a bus wondering if something he encounters that day could harm him and you’d never see him again. We’ve tried it. It was a nightmare.

So, I don’t ask people to home-school their kids. I don’t ask people to agree with our decision. But for us, it’s right. We are doing what we can to keep our child safe. He’s not able to fight for himself right now. He doesn’t have the knowledge or understanding of his chronic problem enough to be an advocate for himself. Right now, it’s still our job and we’re doing the best job we can. If you disagree, then that’s fine. But please do it respectfully. Don’t judge something you know nothing about. And I’ll take my own advice next time you do something I find odd.