Poop and scars are part of the everyday lives of our little ones but we can learn a lot from this.

A couple weeks ago, Collin fell off a chair at school and hit a table head first. After some heartache, an ER visit, and 8 stitches, he was back at school up and running, literally. He was totally fine. Meanwhile, I felt my emotional response for days.

Then, that same week, he got a bad stomach bug and had diarrhea for a week, waking up almost every night at 3 or 4 am. This was definitely painful for him. What a tough 2 weeks its been on all of us!

This is an obvious point but this reminded me how our lives are so intertwined. When one of our loved ones are down or sick, it impacts us all. We take for granted how much impact we have on each other and how much we can support each other. It is complicated and so simple at the same time.

Life is also just so unpredictable. Many times we want to control the situation or control when things like accidents or crisises happen. I realize we can’t change the unpredictable but we can change our response to it.

“I realize we can’t change the unpredictable but we can change our response to it.”

My heart dropped the second I got the call from the school and saw Collin’s huge gash. The wound was pretty big and deep. At that moment I canceled my meetings that day, recentered and became my best (and most dependable) self. Mychi was in clinic all day and would usually be the go-to person.

As we rushed to the ER, it was painful to watch his blood drip from his head wound. Again, this is about me. I’ve never seen that kind of blood on my child (or any child, for that matter). Maybe I worried about his scar. Maybe I was worried about not messing it up. I don’t know, exactly. I was feeling the feels for sure and recentering every moment I had a chance.

In the end, he was fine and said he didn’t feel that much pain. The doctors and nurses said he was the calmest child they ever had in the ER. He actually complained more about the bright lights in the ER. Go figure. We underestimate resilience and superpower of our little ones.

To me, that deep pain and empathy I felt became a good reminder of my commitment and purpose. Too often in the day to day we are either reacting or become numb to all the chaos coming at us. it is good to feel centered, human and real. It is good to be reminded of what is at stake for me.

This is how i want to be in more parts of my life. What if I could feel this kind of joy and pain in all my relations. What would that look and feel like? Would it help us be more committed to each other and a collective purpose?

His scar will be a great tale and reminder of this lesson for me. Scars are the perfect imperfections just like many things in life. We will keep learning and growing with our little one. More power to them becoming some of our best teachers in life.