It sounds funny now, but sitting in the Emergency Room, 8 months pregnant with my second child it sounded crazy when the doctor said, "You did it good, you broke them both."

"All I did was step out my neighbor's front door!" I shockingly replied.

That fateful step by this off-balance pregnant woman carrying an 8 month size baby hotel was navigated around three children under the age of 5, and after I finally stopped rolling down the remaining steps of the front porch, I landed with 2 broken legs.

The baby was fine, by the way...plenty of padding.

I soon found out that my wonderfully ordered life was no longer fine, however, because now I required quite a bit of assistance from things my hectic working mom persona had never imagined, like bedside commodes and walkers.

Just imagine, I was working outside the home, I had a 3 year old son, and my husband and I had very well defined roles in the household.

The chief-cook-and-bottle-washer, not to mention the personal shopper and laundress of the family was now out of commission for the next 11 weeks, and she had to rework her birth plan to include neon casts wrapped around her calves and feet.

This high-achieving, Type-A, first born female was about to get a rude awakening.

3 Things I learned about myself helped me become a better, less stressed Mom

When I awoke the morning after the fall, I was angry, in denial and depressed, and these emotions were compounded ten fold when I realized I had to pee.

It quickly became clear that my normal late-term pregnancy twice an hour bathroom visits would be made very difficult by hopping to the toilet at the speed of a walker with a baby tap dancing on my already weak bladder muscles.

I was happily introduced to a bedside commode, and my first lesson slapped me across the face.

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

…and I’m not talking about the bedside commode, I’m talking about the man cleaning it twice a day.

Pre-Broken-Legs, I was clearly the Captain of the ship called the SS-Johnson, and as far as I was concerned my First Mate (my husband) was a good trainee, but he couldn’t do anything as well as the Captain.

I learned very quickly that I was wrong.

This beached whale with neon flippers laying on the couch screaming instructions on the best way to load the dishwasher was just scary.

Letting my husband and my son find their own way through situations with little or no direction from me opened up an amazingly calm and loving life that allowed us all to learn and grow.

This, too Shall Pass

Everything is a phase. The newborn will become the toddler, and the broken bones will heal. Enjoy the journey, because change is coming around the corner, and you probably won’t be prepared for it.

Once I got over my depression and stress about my sedentary situation, I had to figure out how to roll myself onto the floor, and play with my beautiful, inquisitive, toddler. Once I adapted to having casts on both my legs, I had to figure out how to go through labor. Once labor was over, and I had this precious newborn baby boy, I had to figure out how to change diapers while standing flamingo-like at the changing table.

When I was finally able to walk on my own two feet and carry my 6 week old baby at the same time, I realized how far I had adapted.

Stressing over things was just silly, because I knew that this, too shall pass.

Let It Go

Man, I wish Elsa was around when I needed her, but I had to learn this without the song.

Thank goodness I quickly saw that sitting on the couch, barking orders did not produce a happy Mom or a happy home.

Stopping my Type-A personality didn’t mean I stopped believing in myself and my abilities, however.

It actually gave me the freedom to be myself, and allowed everyone else to do the same.

The difference was small yet significant.

Controlling the way the dishwasher was loaded made me feel insecure and powerful at the same time.

Insecure that it wouldn’t be done “correctly” and powerful that only I knew the right way to do it.

When I let go of that control, I now felt free and secure.

Free that I no longer had the pressure of doing everything right, and secure that others could do the job just as well, if not better than Mom.

Post-Broken-Legs, I had more confidence and peace, and that meant I was better able to help my sons build their own self confidence and peace.

Moms and Dads, just relax.

Schedule things you want to get done in your day, week, month and year, and involve your kids in the schedule.

Color code your schedule, and include the play time, movie watching, play dates and library trips. When you put all that on the schedule, and you include your chores, like dishwashing, or laundry, or in my case working on my business, your kids clearly see how much you do with and for them, and they fight for your attention less and less.

When my boys would whine, or try to get my attention when I sat down to work at my computer, I would bring them to the schedule and show them when we were due to play, which was conveniently colored in their favorite color. They got familiar with the routine, and knew that their time with me was the majority of the day. Pretty quickly, they stopped bugged me if I needed to work.

Relax, and help your kids develop the confidence that you will be there for them when they need you.

I just hope you don’t need to break both legs to learn this lesson.

Enjoy the Journey!