Today, I am concerning myself with my preschool child, Olivia. If you were here with us this morning, you would probably ask her what happened to both of her arms, both of her legs. The top of her nose... Then, I, her mother would have to break the news that she has decided to learn most things physically " the hard way." We have a fall of some sort at least once a day. Some days, we have multiple injuries. What does a mother do? Pray, for sure. I told my husband to wait for the call...the one that says we will meet him at the hospital. Sounds totally pessimistic, but how else should I look at this?
She does not reflect me in my childhood AT ALL. I was careful, even from the beginning! As I see how I was and compare it to her, it is like a beautiful flower unfolds. There are some things in life that maybe we need to learn the hard way, to actually LEARN?
Her mommy watches her like a hawk, when she runs, when she swings, riding her bike, on the monkey bars, anytime we are outside. But, I am learning to say less. Watch more, say less. Running on concrete=mommy calling out to move it to the grass. Spinning out of control in the yard=mouth shut, watching for the fall. After the fall, comes the cry. The regret. Then, the REVIVE!
Okay, this isn't perfect. We are talking about a preschooler here... Many times, we have repeated the same injury. A bleeding finger when coloring with chalk on the concrete....using too small a piece. I guess all of us unfortunately repeat some mistakes. I do notice that the second time is caught VERY quickly. It hurts. After all, there is a scab there. Jesus uses preschoolers to teach their mommies, you can't say He doesn't.
I am trying to mellow out here. Seeing this is our daily agenda, I am choosing to look it in the eye and just wait to see the next thing that happens. Secretly hoping, of course, we don't have to load up all the children and make a run to the ER...
