Almost 10 years ago now I had an explosive health disaster. It was a whirlwind of horrors that eventually lead me on an incredible health journey for all of me - body, spirit, and mind. The day it happened I temporarily went blind while driving on the freeway due to drinking caffeine. Yep, just caffeine. Or so that was what I thought at the time. The iced venti triple caramel macchiato was just the last frail straw that broke the camel's back. The brokenness of my body, the fear of being blind, was a big enough shock to my system to traumatize me into a full-scale life change. There I was, just driving along, sipping my coffee and singing, after leaving work for the day. I felt a sensation I can only describe as a line of gunpowder you see in those old westerns that sparks and crawls along it's journey, destined to reach that pile of red dynamite. The feeling started in my chest, crawled up my neck and when it got to the very top of my head, POW! The pile of dynamite erupted in a John-Wayne sized explosion and the lights went off.
While I was only blind for 4 seconds or so, I thanked God that it was a Sunday and no one was on the freeway next to me as I had crossed over a lane or two. I now know that that was actually an ocular migraine caused by MANY factors - I won't bore you. But the important thing to note is that from that moment a seemingly perfectly healthy 25 year old woman(only 25!) went from being energetic and full of life, to struggling to breathe, walk, and exist. Doing ANYTHING was a monumental task.
As the years went on, it just got worse. I tried everything. I saw many specialists. They told me fun things like, "Your labs look amazing!" "You're a superhero"...and my personal favorite: "It's all in your head." Meanwhile, I'm staring back at them holding an oxygen tank and needing assistance to walk. After collapsing at home with another ocular migraine and what in retrospect I realize was a massive anxiety attack, an ambulance came and took me to the emergency room. The ER doctor said, "You aren't dead or dying, I need this bed for sick people." I held onto one of those metal rolling things that holds bags of fluid to make it to the bathroom one weak step at a time. I changed and left in a wheelchair, completely confused and hopeless.
My body was broken. I turned to nutrition. I started seeing big improvements but I was never the same. Fast forward a few years to when I have my beautiful son. Pregnancy robbed much of the normalcy I had gained. I wanted to be an energetic mom. The kind that did amazing things, and sometimes I was, but most days I was just tired. So tired. The kind of tired that makes the word "tired" look like a joke (I know some of you are nodding your heads-if you know, you know). I remember one day in particular, I was so fatigued to my core, that I could not open the cutlery drawer in the kitchen to lift a spoon. A spoon.
I had to come up with creative ways to make my son's childhood magical. My creativity was the one thing that I could always rely on. I made up games, spent tons of time with him in nature, and then developed Tiny Mysteries. I did anything I could do to make sure he didn't have to experience the lethargy of chronic fatigue with me. I still battle with fatigue but now I win the battle most days. For me, nutrition is key and playing. It can be so hard to find time to play but it's connection and that's the most important thing in their little lives, ya'll!
One of my deepest concerns when developing Tiny Mysteries was making it user friendly enough that totally exhausted parents like me could easily set it up with hardly doing any work at all. Cut out the clues, hide them, play. That's it. We went around and around with other more difficult involvement but I strongly feel the MOST important aspect is just being present with your child- Just let me take care of the rest. I hope Tiny Mysteries is a magical part of your child's life as they learn to grow and use their problem-solving skills, just as I did after my health declined. I'm so close to cracking The Case of the Very Tired Mom - I can feel it! Don't give up!
Chief D.E.
Tiny Mysteries HQ