I clearly remember taking a skid on the pavement outside my home in Mayfair and scraping both knees. It couldn't even be classified as an injury - just a little skin missing and a trace of blood. But I went crying to my mother as if both legs had been broken off at the stems! First she hugged me, then she sat me on the kitchen table, washed the scrape and drew a Mercurochrome dog on my knees. Sent me back out with a kiss and that was the end of it.
What if my mother had assessed the "injury" as nothing and told me to stop making a big thing out of nothing? As I grew up with many more scrapes and insults to my childish dignity I knew where to come for help. In my teen years the problems were a good bit worse than a papercut or sore finger. But I knew where to go with them. My parents set the foundation early as the ones who would always have my back no matter what. Even as a wife, mother and grandmother, I still knew where to come for some tea and sympathy. Giving attention to the insignificant problems of life sets the stage for asking for help with the significant ones.
I've heard it said that giving attention to cuts and bruises only perpetuates negativity and promotes hypochondria. Actually, it's the opposite. An injury is a question that asks for resolution. If a person doesn't find resolution they'll repeat and repeat, searching for a different outcome, sometimes for the rest of their lives. Completing the cycle by answering the question ends it.
You don't want a child completing the cycle or looking for that resolution outside of the safety of their parents' home. Many a parent has wept over a lost child - "Why did they go with that person? We raised her better than this!" Unfortunately, a roof over her head and 3 squares a day don't fill in the place that longs for someone to care. Have we adults been overlooked so often that we forget what it feels like to need that caring touch?
Caring about the small hurts of life also teaches the child some important things they need to know about God. 'Is He really a God who cares about little me? Or am I on my own in the cosmos unless the need is of epic importance, and even then...'
My message to young mothers and fathers is - Have patience, keep your eye on the goal. You're building something here that needs a stable foundation. Be that foundation for your child.
