Bonk Bang Bling

The last 24 hours have been rough on my Beauties. All three of them look like they've been through the wars. As their mommy, I suppose I should be more concerned, but I'm sitting here chuckling to myself. I'm thinking that, as much as a skinned knee stings or a bonked head aches, these scars-in-the-making are like badges of honor from kidhood. I hate to see my kids suffer, but the truth is that the fun they have while getting the booboos is what they will remember. The only memory they'll have of the ouch is the mark they will bear on their skin. We mommies can attest to this basic human trait. We tend to forget pain... but we remember the good things that come out of it.

The warm weather has brought out the best in all of us. Our energy levels are soaring right now. The kids are having a blast getting filthy and sweaty in the summer-like sun. The bushes, trees and dirt are calling to all of us. To us adults they're saying: "Trim us.... plant us... water us!" To the kids (the true citizens of spring and summer) they make a more thrilling call: "Climb us... crawl under us... dig us up!" Who could resist that siren song? They can't, so they do it. And sometimes they get hurt in the process. And in a way, we hope that they do. Obviously, nothing too bad or lasting... we parents aren't sadists after all. Just the little ouchies that feel better after a little cleaning, and a little soothing and a SpongeBob Bandaid slapped on: the proof of time well-spent. These little booboos even have a small parenting bonus. They give us the chance to get those cuddles that we get less and less of as they grow up and away.

And speaking of growing up... my own Middlest Beauty made one of those choices I'm always going on about. She decided that she wanted to get her ears pierced. Since this is something I've never objected to, it didn't take her long to convince me that it was a good idea (about 45 seconds). I even told her that it would hurt a bit and she told me that it was okay: "I don't mind if it only hurts a little." Of course, my Mommy Gut was clenched in knots about it, but I knew this day was coming with my little Princess... so why not just get it over with? Soooo... after a brief consultation with the Princess's father, she and I took a trip to the mall. There were a few tears; that's true. But there are now two beautiful flower-shaped bits of bling in my daughter's ears. And she's very proud of herself for surviving.






The bottom line is: I think that "Ouch!" should be the name of the National Anthem of Childhood. It's not that I'm sitting here going "Oooh... Johnny should fall out of the tree and break his arm" or "yippee, Janie fell down and skinned her knee on the asphalt." But the true nature of leading a life is that those little ouches are bound to happen. It's what the kids come away with that counts. Whether it's simply a memory of fun that will last forever, a healthy constitution from leading an active life... or perchance, a bit of bling, our kids are rewarded for that small penance they pay in scrapes, bumps and bruises.

And we mommies and daddies can only hope that their reward will be great.