What are you going do when it's really important, then?
June 3, 2018
I have a very particular set of memories from my childhood, that revolves around me falling, hitting or otherwise hurting myself. If it was just a bruise my father often said to me:
How bad is it? Is it worth crying for, like you do now?
(I was probably exaggerating quite a lot). Of course, it was!
Tell me, what are you going to do if it really hurts, then?
That was maybe not pedagogically correct for a child in pain but it at least got me thinking. Indeed… what comes after screaming and crying? Could I turn this up? Would it make a difference? Would I get … yes, what was it I wanted, really? Maybe just a hug or comfort. Could I get that by other means of communication that the display I was putting on now?
Of course, 7-year old Marcus didn’t reflect...