Archive for May, 2009
“Where’s my boo boo?”
Tonight after we said good-night, Natalie came to the gate at the top of the stairs and said:
“Mommy, where’d my boo-boo go?”
“What do you mean?”
“My boo-boo’s gone. Where is it?”
“Your boo-boo healed, sweetie.”
“Hee-yoled? Whhhyyyyy?”
“Your boo-boo is healed, that means it’s all better now. That’s what boo-boos do. They don’t last forever.”
“Did you take it away?”
“No, sweetie, it just got all better. It healed and now it’s all gone.”
“And then you took it away?”
“Yes. Now it’s time for bed. Go on back to your room and go to sleep.”
Finally satisfied with the explanation of her missing boo-boo, she turned and trotted back to her room.
“Good-night, honey. Love you.”
“G’night”
The boo-boo she was referring to was a nasty skinned knee from a little over a week ago. As Natalie tells it, she “ran and ran and ran and then fell down.” One knee was pretty badly bruised and the other knee had a big scrape and later a scab. She would ask to take the band-aid off, but then as soon as she saw the injury, she would start screaming about her knee hurting and request another band-aid to cover the reminder of her fall. I didn’t realize she’d gotten so attached to it—and certainly didn’t think that she would be upset by it’s absence. I guess even though it was painful, it must have felt like a part of her by the time it healed, and when it was gone she was obviously confused. It’s overwhelming to think of all the things we know and take for granted as adults that toddlers need explanations for!
EPILOGUE: This morning, Natalie looked at her knee and saw that the skin under her scab is still pink and looks different than the rest of her knee. She said, very excited, “I think my boo-boo’s still here! You didn’t take it away!”
Friendship on the Farm
Natalie had a great time strawberry picking with her buddies Clara and Olivia. After all the strawberries were picked, they had lots of fun just goofing around in front of the farm store being 2-year-olds:
