“If I fall, will you help me up?”
That is what my almost three year old Wesley said to me this morning as we walked our dog around the block.
Last week while we walked Chloe, I let him hold the leash by himself. At the end of the walk, she took off running after my middle child and yanked the leash so hard, it flung Wesley forward and he slammed the front of his face into the concrete. I heard the sound of his skull reverberating.
Crying, ice packs, pupil dilation checks, repeat.
He ended up being fine but it was clear – he’s not ready to hold the leash for this battle yet. Dad would need to help – whether Wesley liked that idea or not.
But what strikes me about today is that he wasn’t scared of falling again. He was scared of not being helped up. He was worried about how he would gather himself when the pain and tears of the future fall were too much. He wanted to know if dad would be there to help him up. I assured him, “Yes I will.”