Stumbling Blocks

One day, just over a year ago, I was washing the dishes when I heard something new and looked up, To my great surprise and excitement, I saw my baby girl crawling towards me! I was so proud and relieved, because now she can get where she wants to be by herself, right? I was dead wrong. The more mobility she gained, the more I   had to run around and rescue everything from her curious hands. Yes, ever since my little girl started to move, my house has turned into a crazy place!

Lately, she has been extra clumsy on her feet, though. I started noticing it this weekend when we went to visit some family. She would run and then just, suddenly and for no reason, end up falling and crying and crying. I don't know why this is happening to her, but I suspect that maybe it is because of a growth spurt, because she is really growing fast these days.

Last night we were playing a bit while waiting for dinner. She was super cute, dancing and joking around and then, out of no where, she stumbled down again. I could see that this time it was exceptionally painful and rushed to her rescue. After the crying stopped and she appeared to be calmed down a bit, I tried to put her down for a while, because dinner needed some attendance, but she simply wouldn't let go of me. With her little legs around my waist and her arms around my neck, she started clinging onto me like a scared little monkey.

So it finally started to dawn on me: she is afraid to try walking again. She's scared of falling. I felt so sorry for her and decided to be patient and keep her on my hip for a while. In the back of my head I was panicking. What if this is more permanent? What if she doesn't want to walk again AT ALL? I started brainstorming ideas to get her confidence back up, but nothing seemed to be working. So I have decided to give it a rest and started to dish up dinner (still with her on my hip). Luckily there is nothing like dinner to get her to forget about her fears and by the end of it, she was running around once more.

This made me think: Isn't this something that happens to all of us on a daily basis (figuratively speaking)? Who doesn't fall down in other, different ways? Sometimes it can be really scary to get back up. So I have got a feeling that my daughter has learned more from her painful experience than the mere fact that she can't quit walking. I think this was a lesson for her to be brave and never give up.