Watching my daughter take a band aid off a cut today was excruciating.
I kept thinking – Just rip off the whole thing already!
But instead, she was gingerly easing it off, millimeter by millimeter.
As I watched her take care of herself, I asked myself, “What does ripping off the band aid serve? Why do we need to rip it off quickly?”
A few weeks back, I very quickly ripped off a band aid for my son, and he was so upset when I did. I was sure that doing it quickly was good for him, but was it really?
Would it have served my daughter to rip off the band aid quickly? Or was it better for her to take care, listen to her body and slowly take it off?
Perhaps we, as the parent and observer, the one not in pain, want the band aid to be ripped off quickly because we can’t stand watching our children (and really this applies watching anyone else) be in pain. Maybe sitting in the pain, millimeter by millimeter, is an okay position to be in – both for the observer as well as the one taking off the band aid?
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