Loud and Proud

My lovely, little strawberry girl is dramatic.

I hate to bend to those ridiculous gender sterotypes of "boys are easy and girls are drama queens" but, man... She is.

And LOUD.

J took a spill on her way into the library today. She skinned her knee. It was a pretty respectable scrape as far as scrapes go but judging by her shrieks you would have thought that she lost a limb (a really important one), poked her eye out (maybe both) and lost her beloved monkey all in one fell swoop. It was awful.

I'm always torn during times like this. I feel so badly that she's hurt and scared and needs help. I know that she's two, for Pete's sake, and isn't equipped to communicate as effectively as she would like to... but... when I see the extent of the injury and I absolutely want to scream.

But I never do.

I tell her that I saw her fall and that I know she hurts. I take her in my arms and kiss her all over. I tell her that screaming won't make it feel better, that she needs to breathe and let me help her. She howls and howls and howls. There's nothing I can do but keep kissing her and telling her that "I know, I know, it hurts..." When she leans into me and puts her head on my shoulder I know that she is comforted but still she won't calm down until she has a band-aid or a special seat or, well, LOTS of attention.

And then I stop.

Why do I want to scream? She's the one that's hurt. Why am I upset? Is it because people throw those awful "shut yer kid up" looks our way when she starts howling? Is J having behavior issues? No. SHE SKINNED HER KNEE. Am I actually worried about what people think? Are their feelings more important than my child's?

No.

So, sweet J, if you take a spill, scream away. Howl if you're hurt. Throw yourself into a tizzy if you bump your elbow or stub your toe.

It's o.k. by me.