Livia was hurt today. We were having a fabulous time playing outside under a crisp blue winter sky, when she reached for a stump and lost her balance. She ended up falling, and she hit her eyebrow on the stump on her way down.
I felt an immediate sense of internal panic as I saw that she was going to fall. I was right there, but I just couldn’t get to her in time. At first I couldn’t tell exactly which part of her face had smacked the stump. There was a cry of pain, and I picked Livia up and quickly checked her over. When I saw that both of her eyeballs were still in the right place, none of her teeth were dangling by a thread, and there was no blood anywhere, I relaxed a little. Then I could see the puffy red bump on her eyebrow.
I considered taking Livia inside to ice her bump, but after some hugs and reassuring words, she really wanted to try again. I let her get back down in the snow, and she crawled over to investigate a fort. The bump was the first time she had been injured outside, but after inspecting it, I could see that it wasn’t anything too serious. I doubted that she would tolerate ice on her face anyway. I kept an eye on the puffiness as she continued to play, and I decided that if it was still red when we went inside, I would ice it.
I don’t want Livia to be hurt, but I know that little bumps and bruises mean that she is trying new things. She is learning her limits, and she is starting to discover how far she can push those limits. Those are all good things. The goal is not that children will never fall. The goal is for children to be able to get back up after they fall, and be willing to try again.
todaywewillplay 