If you have kids or have any interactions with children, especially boys, you know they fall…a lot. That’s just what kids do!

I try not to react so they don’t see fear or concern on my face and project it themselves. For the most part, they shake it off, because again, kids fall A LOT. When they do get hurt, and it requires more than a few words of comfort, it can be stressful and cause anxiety for all those involved.

Here’s a fun story of what happened with my boys the other day….

I was preparing dinner the other night and my brother was keeping an eye on the boys (we all know how difficult it is to multitask with active toddlers) and Bronson somehow scratched his knee. Tiny scratch, no crying, no problem. I take him to the bathroom to rinse it out and apply a bandaid. This is where all hell breaks loose.

I apply a lightsaber themed band aid (this child loves Star Wars) to his knee and he goes bat shiznit crazy. You would think I rubbed salt in his wound or told him his leg needed amputation. He would NOT be consoled or for that matter even listen to what I was saying. My first instinct was to let him cry a bit to get it out of his system so he could see the band aid isn’t causing him harm, and then I could explain the purpose of the band aid. Yeah that plan went to hell…fast.

He continued to cry and since all good brothers support one another, Marcus started to cry. It reminded me of that annoying Christmas song, “if one light goes out, they all go out!” In my case, if one brother cries, we all cry!! (I was on the verge of tears at this point too. Dinner that was started is over cooking and the rest hasn’t even begun yet.) I don’t understand how a boy that falls all day long, bounces (literally off walls) and is completely fine, goes absolutely ballistic over a piece of plastic adhesive on his leg.

I guess you’re wondering, why didn’t you just yank the damn thing off?? Well, of course I had to. Apparently, you can’t reason with a toddler. ? I was hoping we could come to terms with the band aid in case in the future he would really need one. Once the stupid band aid was off, it took twenty minutes, chocolate milk AND a cookie to stop the hysterics.

Fast forward two days, (TWO!! I did say kids fall A LOT), and Bronson scrapes his other knee on the sidewalk. (The future crept up really fast!) He doesn’t cry, but it was a large scrape that’s bleeding a little. I clean it out with water when we get to the car and stop the bleeding. I wash it out with soap and water when we reach our destination. Later on when we get home, I have to put ::gasp:: hydrogen peroxide on. I warn Bronson that it may sting a little. Sure enough he isn’t thrilled with it. There’s some cringing and whining but it gets done. Now for the real fun…time for antibacterial ointment and ::dear gawd no:: the band aid!! I pull out the band aids, and he’s already yelling ‘no, no, no!!’ I let him pick one out for me and I proudly display it on my arm. He couldn’t care less. I show him the Yoda band aid he is getting and again, he is out of his mind. My husband and I try to calm him the best we can.

The child is NOT happy to say the least. We prepare him chocolate milk (his favorite treat) and promise him a snack. He’s not having it. You know what worked?? Star Wars. That’s right, Star Wars. I said, “Bronson, you see my Chewie band aid? He talks really funny. What to see?” And I showed him a five minute clip of Chewbacca. Bronson started to come around so next I showed him a five minute clip of Yoda.  He loved it. Thank God for YouTube.

Next morning, Bronson wakes up and says “I’m not crying anymore! I won’t cry if you have to put a band aid on anymore.” Thanks kid, thanks.

“I’m just a simple mom, trying to make my way in the universe.” (A little spin on Jango Fett for you non-Star Wars people)