Love Hurts
Henry has mastered the skill of “milking it”. About a week and a half ago, while running down the street, he tripped and skinned his knee.
It was a pretty big owie (as we’re wont to call them), and there was a little blood and a lot of tears. The tears stopped after a minute or two, but the owie stayed around, scabbing over and generally looking like your standard skinned knee.
For the first couple of days after, you could tell that it still hurt a little, and Henry would often touch his knee or point at it and say, “My knee hurts”, and we’d remedy it with a hug and a kiss (on both a cheek and the knee). But after a week or so, the scab all fell off and everything was back to normal.
Or so we thought.
You see, Henry realized that he was getting a little bit extra attention when he complained, he got extra smooches and hugs (as if he could ever get more of those). So for the last few days, he’ll walk up to us and say, “Knee hurts”, make a little pouty face and whine a little until he gets the kisses and attention his joint so justifiably deserves.
Now the worry-wort in my heart at first thought that maybe his knee is irreparably damaged, that he will limp for the rest of his life, his (my) dreams of him winning Wimbledon shot before he even turns two.
But then after his knee kiss was over, he’d be off running and jumping and being silly, with nary a limp or any sign of injury.
I suppose this is all part of growing up, right? Little lies that make people fawn over you a little more. (It’s almost as if Henry’s a character in a Victorian novel who faints in the heat of summer so they can be rescued and swept off their feet by the handsome stranger with the large estate.)
I just don’t want it to get any worse. I don’t want him to lie about things — lie about a real injury or whatever — and yet I’m a bit worried that we’re allowing him to go on about a white lie.
Either way, he’ll never lack from hugs and kisses from Kristen and me.
August 17th, 2010 at 11:47 am
Would that I were there, I’d be doing the same!