Babes & I para-sailing on Turks and Caicos Islands in the West Indies.
A few years ago while Honeymooning with my husband in the beautiful Fijian Islands, we both parasailed – meaning we were towed behind a speed-boat, high in the sky, across a gorgeous sea, in a parachute, for a considerable amount of time! We both went up individually, without a worry in the world and no questions asked. I admit it seems crazy looking back now and it may sound scary to some, however I remember LOVING it! It was one of the most awesome, awakening experiences I have ever experienced, and I very much looked forward to doing it again.
Fast forward to this week, and here we are in the British West Indies on the Islands of Turks and Caicos……..
Yep, we are in Paradise, with all these wonderful unassuming safe mellow sea-venturing offerings like parasailing! Gorgeous settings, and all this free time together AGAIN as a couple. How You Ask? Thankfully, we are traveling with Miles Storm’s grandparents, and they love spending time with their Grand-Son. Mystery Solved!
If my husband could avoid ANY activity in the world it would be parasailing… and here I am on the opposite end of the scale… pushing him to go parasailing with me! Babes is not the best up-there high-in-the-sky kind-of-guy, and to a certain point I realize I am somewhat scared of heights too.
Regardless, as a morning activity we booked a tandem parasailing adventure together!
Once on the boat, everything was going great right up until when we were first lifted up into the sky, well for me anyway, but apparently my husband, not so much. It was a speedy take-off with limited instruction. I made up for that by laughing a lot, enjoying the view and just trying to assure myself we were going to be okay. However, once I saw my husband struggling mentally, I started to get scared; it was a chain reaction. It did not help that I knew he was only doing the activity to make me happy!
The boat pulling us, started going really fast, and all of a sudden we were many miles from shore, and very high in the sky. It was a very windy day and we were being swayed from here-to-there like a feather in a hurricane… around this time my self-confidence turned South. I turned white and was having a hard time speaking. It was really scary – like I said, a feather in a hurricane kind of feeling!
In those 15 minutes up there in the sky, I wondered why I was so scared this time around when I had LOVED my first time parasailing in Fiji! I was very confused! Until, I posted this same picture on my Instagram feed and another Mother wrote back saying – “It’s funny what becoming a Mum has done to me, one of the things is I get butterflies from going on the swings at the park”.
And, with those few posted words it all made sense to me.
I am a Mother now, and it is not all about me anymore. I have to stay alive to look after my beautiful Little Boy. Before, Miles Storm was around it was just me, and if something happened to me…. well it was just me! But now, I cannot be so risky and if I put myself in similar positions, like I did before I was pregnant and did not have a care in the world – it is never going to feel the same.
I have a responsibility to make sure I am safe and healthy so I can be around for my Little One. If anything happened to me he would be devastated. It was clearly an epiphany moment, and I totally understand now, in retrospect, why I felt sick and so scared up there in the sky this time around parasailing. It was all because of Miles Storm, my little munchkin, who I want to be around forever. For me now, it is Health and Happiness all the Way.
Ain’t being a Mummy Grand!
