My mom got her nursing degree when she was pregnant with my younger sister. She literally gave birth to her on a Sunday night and then took one of her nursing finals the following Monday. So when it came to injuries, surgeries, or any time when life knocked us down my siblings and I were expected to pick ourselves up and deal with it. Growing up with a nurse as a mom was quite a unique experience... here's what I learned and anyone whose mom is a nurse understands.
1. IF IT ISN'T BROKEN AND YOU AREN'T BLEEDING YOU'RE FINE
This and "Go take ibuprofen" were the mantras my siblings and I grew up with.
2. WEIRD RULES
Like only one person could jump on the trampoline at a time and no one could play outside when Dad was mowing the lawn. We had a multitude of weird rules, yet somehow I still ended up breaking both elbows, one wrist, and tearing a labrum.
3. AN ENDLESS SUPPLY OF MEDICINE
To this day, my mom still carries a purse full of antibiotics, pain-killers, allergy relief, you name it. We always had a burn kit in the house, barf bags in all the cars, and emergency first aid kits spread throughout the house. We never lacked preparedness.
4. CRAZY HOURS
My mom worked nights in the ER throughout my childhood, so the hours were a little bit different than a 9-5 office job. Instead, she worked from 7 at night to 7 in the morning so I would be leaving for school and she would just be getting home from work.
5. ODD REQUESTS
This doesn't happen often, but sometimes there are dead periods throughout the night that leave my mom and her coworkers a little bored and a little goofy, which often times leads to some odd requests... like last night when she asked to be put on speaker and wanted my boyfriend to make the "Chewbacca sound" for everyone.
6. NEVER HAVING TO WAIT IN LINE
Throughout my childhood and teenage years I was a bit accident-prone and occasionally found myself having to go to the emergency room. Having a mom who is a nurse is definitely a perk in this aspect, I rarely had to wait the long hours in the emergency room, the staff was always friendly, and I knew I was getting the best care because it was my mom and her powerhouse staff full of people she knew and trusted.
7. WHEN YOU WANT TO COMPLAIN ABOUT YOUR DAY BUT YOU CAN'T BECAUSE CHANCES ARE SHE HAD A MUCH, MUCH WORSE ONE
And not just because she's on her feet for 12 hours. My "bad day" meant that I got a C on a homework assignment and forgot my lunch money, but her bad day meant that a patient died.
8. YOUR MOM IS SUPERHERO TO BOTH YOU AND STRANGERS
Not only did she put bandaids on your scraped knees and feed you chicken noodle soup when you had a stomachache, but she also took care of strangers during the most vulnerable times of their lives. Nurses sacrifice their holidays, birthday parties, and family time each year, and even though she may have some weird rules and the sleeping tendencies of a bat, your mom is a superhero to both you and strangers.
