Falling To Pieces

Josh and I do not always agree with parenting styles of other parents but since it is not our kid, we don't say anything. But it always starts a discussion for us and how we are going to address that issue with Abigail. It can be something like seeing a 4 year old walking around with a pacifier and vowing we will never do that. Thankfully Abby never really liked a pacifier but that is a whole other story. Sometimes Josh and I disagree on how we would handle the same situation. However, we always discuss it and weigh the pros and cons. One thing that we had discussed early on was the fact that when Abby falls down, bumps into something, lands on her tushy or anything minor, we were not going to have a huge reaction. We didn't want to go "OH NO" or run to her side making a huge deal out of the littlest of things. We wanted her to be a tough girl but if she seriously hurts herself, one of us runs to pick her up. Thankfully this doesn't happen too much and she seems to not have inherited my klutziness...yet...

It is amazing how kids really look for your reaction. When Abby was first trying to pull up and walk, she would often fall on her tushy. She almost immediately would look up at us waiting for an "OH NO!" reaction so she knew she could cry and get some sympathy. But we would always clap and just keep it positive. Most of the time it worked well and we have had to modify it as she gets bigger. When Abby finally was walking, she would sometimes fall forward catching herself on her hands. She would look at us, palms up as if to say "There is dirt on my hands, I fell, is this good or bad?" We would just put her hands together, tell her to just dust it off and go back to playing. Other times we would just tell her she is okay and get back to playing. We really were not going to pick her up, coddle her and give her a cookie every time she cried because she fell. It wasn't the message we wanted to get across.

With becoming an extremely verbal 2 year old, reactions are changing. One thing that was picked up from day care was if something hurts you, it is not nice. But a quick kiss makes everything all better. Last week the dialog went like this:

CLUNK!
Abby: ::Sniffle:: "Bumped the head."
Me: "You bumped your head?"
Abby: "Yes, Mommy kiss?"
Me: "Of course!" ::Kiss:: (and checking for bleeding, bruising and then realizing there is nothing within 3 feet of her that could have caused this) "All better?"
Abby: "All better. Not nice, floor."
Me: "The floor hurt you?"
Abby: "Yes. Not nice, floor" As she runs back to playing.

Okay...Floors are not nice. I guess I have to keep a better eye on our floors because they are jumping up and hurting my child...

I came home yesterday to Abigail running around playing and then fell. Of course I was waiting to see what was not nice since she tripped over air. But instead she just got up and announced "Abby okay!" Josh and I exchanged looks and just laughed.