Thud, thud, thud. “Aaaahhhhh!” “Anthony, come down here!” I am with my daughter on a bench in Chick-fil-a’s play area, our more-than-once-a-week hangout, and she is scared of all the noise that the other kids are making. Someone bangs their feet on the slide above us, causing a thundering sound and my daughter to hold her finger to her lips and say, “sssshhhhhhh.” She has gotten braver lately. She will venture over to the toddler play area while I sit and watch and then when someone comes near that she isn’t sure of, she’ll barrel back over to me at lightning speed, sometimes thrusting her head into my stomach. Ouch.
Today my daughter sat with me most of the time, content to watch the other kids play from afar. We know she takes it all in because she can recreate the scene at home in exact detail. She doesn’t want to leave, even if she’s not playing. We were there for about a half hour and I was ready to leave when an older boy hanging from a bar above accidentally kicked my daughter in the head. She started crying and he didn’t even realize it happened.
I know these things are going to happen. I know kids can get hurt when they are exploring and playing and learning. In one week, my sweet girl begins preschool and it feels like the beginning of many separations. I won’t be with her at the school playground if she falls and she’s going to be comforted by someone else. She’s going to have a world open up before her, one that I don’t know.
So today I needed this link that Joanna from The Receiving Project sent out in a recent Daily Gift. Ya gotta check it out. Ready for everything to be OK?
http://make-everything-ok.com/
She will be okay. That’s terrible, though!! Kicked in the face?
wow. really like the magic button. trying to reframe a really sad occurrence and realize that everything doesn’t always turn out ok but we still have it in our power to make as much around the sadness as ok as possible. wishing you and Hannah much fun during your separations and many happy reunions. love you!!!