As I write this, my two-year-old daughter is one week into her 3 week stint with an ankle cast due to 2 broken bones in her ankle, and my eight-year-old son is 2 days into his 5 day stint with stitches on his face due to a rather deep cut on his face. Don’t worry, my six-year-old daughter is fine. My husband and I are also fine. Maybe a little exhausted, but no ailments. (Although, 4 waiting rooms within 7 days could be considered an ailment, especially 10 days into 2026.) And yes, the deductible jokes have been made numerous times.
But this is our reality.
My daughter broke her ankle while sitting on the steps. My son cut his face on the corner of a wall. They were “accidents” in their truest form. There’s a lot of hindsight taking place – like maybe I shouldn’t have left my daughter sitting on the second from the bottom step… maybe I should have reminded my son to slow down as he sprints through a house with socks on.
But this is our reality.
I’d also like to mention that neither of these accidents happened at our house. So it’s really easy to crack a joke like “yes, we are putting our six-year-old in a bubble” and say “as long as they’re home, they’re safe. It’s scary out there!” However, I’d be lying if my usual anxious-leaning-self didn’t sort of have some truth behind those jokes. It IS scary out there! Not just because of steps or corners of walls. But it’s HARD to let your kids go. To drop them off at school each day and pray nothing bad happens. To watch them play sports and hope they don’t get hurt. To let them be surrounded by peers who may or may not be bad influences on their word choice, attitudes, or tones. To let your kids spread their wings and hope they find a soft place to land.
But this is our reality.
As much as I’d love to never let my kids go, it is reality. The best thing that I (and my husband) can do, is teach them how to handle situations with virtue and teach them how to love as Jesus loves us. While their tone and attitude at home may be awful at times, it’s our job to show them how to power through uncomfortable situations. While they may get their feelings hurt or their spirit crushed, it’s our job to pick them up and help them look forward. While they may have stitches on their head and wish it never happened, it’s our job to guide them through the discomfort and annoyance of everyone asking about said stitches. It’s our job to help them grow in holiness. It’s certainly not easy. It’s very, very hard.
But this is our reality.