Stop Trying to Calm the Storm. Calm Yourself.

𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙩𝙧𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙢. 𝘾𝙖𝙡𝙢 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙢 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨.

This week I experienced my first super kaba moment as a mom of a student who is in a face-to-face modality.
(If you are new here, I’m a homeschool mom)

Our eldest, who only started commuting on his own last week, got lost.

He missed his stop and traveled 7 kilometers away. 

I was monitoring his location through the app. His avatar stopped near his stop and did not update, so I just thought na baka mahina ang data at baka naglalakad na sya pauwi.

When it finally moved, I was so surprised that his next location was already 4 kilometers away from his supposed stop!!!

I tried to call him, but he didn’t answer since his phone was in his bag.

By the time I was able to get a hold of him, he was so far away na.

My heart stopped. And then began beating so fast.  Panic na ang nanay.

Hindi niya alam ang lugar na yun. And that place is already “delikado” for him.

But because it was loud inside the jeep, he couldn’t hear me. I was supposed to instruct him to alight at Alimall, where it’s safer than where he currently was. Pero nalaman ko, bumaba na sya ng jeep! Patay na 

He is nowhere near a jeepney or bus going back to his route since one-way yung kalsada. I texted him and told him to enter a fast-food or resto where it’s safer. Buti may 7-11.

Ano, susunduin ko na ba? Mag book na ba ako ng Grab for him?

My husband assured me that it would be a great learning experience for him to figure things out. And that I should trust him.

I took a long, deep breath. Calmed my nerves and then looked at his location again.

From there, I came up with a plan.

I gave him instructions on how to get home using a different route. That would mean he has to ride 2 different jeeps and a tricycle, needs to navigate roads unfamiliar to him, tumawid sa major roads, and gather the strength to move forward.

My 14yo child was calm.

He was using technology to navigate his way back.

And after 2 hours of stress for this momma, he was home safe. He did it.

Whew.

I knew the easiest way out was for us to pick him up where he was. We could drive there in less than an hour (matrapik na din kasi) or i-book ko sya ng Grab car, but it was a learning opportunity. An opportunity to learn not only for him, but most especially for me.

If I learned to let go last week, this week I learned to trust more.

Trust more in my son’s capabilities.

Trust more in God that he is protected at all times.

Trust that my heart is capable of handling stressful situations like this.

The only way for us to calm the storm is to calm our hearts first.