Mommy Moment...
One day, the younger three and I had run to the tractor parts store for Curt. We often helped out by going for parts while Curt took apart the broken machinery. The guys all knew us and were always nice to the kids. Well, one of the salesmen gave Caleb a candy. It thrilled his little four year old heart!
He came running to me to ask if he could eat it. When...SMACK! He tripped. His face hit a display and it cut the bridge of his nose! I was only six or eight feet away. I jump up from the parts counter, ran to him, and sat right down beside him. There was a puddle of blood the size of a plate under his face.
God must have taken over, because I was calm. I quickly realized what was bleeding. Rolled Caleb into my lap, put my thumb over the cut, applied pressure, made eye contact and started speaking calmly. "Look at me. Look at me, honey. Calm down. You have to stop crying, honey. If you stop crying it will stop bleeding. You have to stop, sweetie." About then he stopped crying.
After a bit of assessment and rocking him sitting there on the floor I put him in the car with his sisters and went back in to actually pickup the tractor part. One of the guys said he was an EMT and had NEVER seen a kid calm down so quickly. I smiled and replied, "He trusted me."
As a mommy it's easy to fall into the trap of too many words. I implore you to say what you mean and mean what you say. Your kid's life may one day depend on them obeying you. Trust is a simple thing but it's so easily destroyed by our own words.
Mommy, you got this!
