In video games when a character gets hurt they lose a bit a stamina or a bar of health. The same could be said about comic book characters, they are usually well by the next page or last panel. Unfortunately, this is not the case in real life, when someone gets hurt or has an accident there are bruises, crying and a lot of screaming.
One of the reasons I'm writing this post is because I feel that at times, we here at fandads, are veering away from the "dads" part of our name. Not saying that it's bad that we write about video games, comics and such, but we need to try to share a little more about our experiences as new dads. This is an experience that I know many of us will have one day and I wanted to share mine with you.
Last night after work I was standing in my kitchen making myself a snack when my little girl decided to push against my legs. This is something that she does every now and then, usually when she's tired. As she pushed herself against me, with a little more strength than usual, she lost her balance and went head first into stool behind me. The fall was so fast that I couldn't react in time, but when I heard the "clank" of her head hitting the metal stool I froze in my spot for a second.
The next few seconds of the incident have replayed in my mind on a loop that hurts me every time I think of it. As I knelt down to pick up my little girl she started crying and the cries quickly turned into screams as I noticed her eyebrow swelling rapidly. At first when I picked her up I thought she was just rattled by the fall, but when I saw the swelling I freaked out and instantly thought she broke a bone in her eye. Even though my wife came out to help with the swelling I felt so helpless holding my screaming child and knowing that I could not take away her pain.
Now my little girl has had her share of bumps and bruises that many kids incur in day to day life. She's been scratched by a cat, fallen off the bed, bruised her knees when she was learning to walk & was once bitten by our dog, but it was more of a playful bite than a real bite. This new bruise though...was something else. I literally could see this thing swelling in front of my eyes and was afraid that it would pop right there in front of us.
After a few minutes of soothing her and placing a cold rag on her eye she slowly started to calm down and so did the swelling. Now while it seemed we were in the clear I couldn't stop thinking about her screams. I really couldn't sleep at night, because I kept hearing her screams in my head and seeing her eye swelling up everytime I closed my eyes. In the morning she was back to her old self, but her eye was still swollen and it had a light purplish color to it.
As a parent you will do anything to take care of your children and always make sure that they are ok, but at times there are going to be things that are not in your control. Kids falling and hurting themselves is just a part of life, but as much as we don't want it to happen, it will. I can only hope that these accidents are few and far between.
This incident taught me that I will not be able to protect my little girl from everything that is out there, but when something happens I have to keep a cool head and try my best to get her through it. Accidents are going to happen no matter what and I can't be the over protective parent hovering over my child all the time. I guess if you want to put it in video game terms: it's best to let your child gain XP points by going through the ups and downs of life, but remember that their health and stamina bar doesn't regenerate in real life.
Thanks for reading,
Victor
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