Gray Hairs

is what my daughter is giving me already and we are more than a decade from her teenage years.

Sometimes she cries so hard that she doesn't breathe. Counting this morning, she has now passed out on three separate occasions. And let me tell you, it doesn't get any less scary. In fact, while it's happening my brain can't even process that it's ever happened before. I feel like I'm watching in slow motion as her eyes start to close and her body goes limp. I panic, jostling her and yelling at her to please take a breath. Waiting for some sort of response feels like an eternity, when in reality it's mere seconds.

My pediatrician tells me it's actually common among kids and not to worry as long as she wakes right back up. But none of this eases my mind. I still replay it in my head all day long and can't swallow the ball of fear that permanently resides in my throat. It's nothing I ever want to witness again.

Little episodes like this really remind me of how lucky I am to have healthy kids. Because my heart breaks for the mothers of sick children who have to endure such a nightmare. I can't even begin to imagine...

So I will welcome those gray hairs and pray that this is as bad as it gets.