Bennett had a nice play date with Avy today but fell quite hard on our neighbors drive toward the end. She ended up with the fat est lip! Both she and Avy cried and cried emotionally traumatized by the event. Sandy said Avy cried all the way home. Bennett would not take the icepack off her face for us to inspect. There was not much blood but Bennett was so scared about it - she said it was her worst nightmare and that she was going to die.
Most 5 almost 6 year olds don't understand mortality. The idea of death is a large part of Bennett's view of the world. She often plays dead or talks about her dolls being sick and dying.
I wonder if she or we need more therapy. I have been telling myself she is doing so well - her confidence is gaining and she loves school and horse riding. When she responds so strongly to a fall with a small amount of blood that she thinks she is dying I worry.
PS so many things have happened the past few months. Visited my sis Dorotha and had a great time gardening, catching up and B playing with her son's kids. Went to Karen B's birthday party - really awesome. Saw Sean M there whose partner was diagnosed with stage two colen cancer. Julie P's family is suffering her Mom passed away. Life continues
So good to see a new post from you, Pat. And that you and Bennett are doing well. I'm curious, two days later, how Bennett's fears about her fall and swollen lip dissipated. Fears have a way of sticking around in our emotions much longer than they do in our intellect. It was probably a relief to Bennett to see her face in a mirror after she finally removed the ice pack, and even more of a relief to see the swelling go down and start to heal.
ReplyDeletePat, It was so great to see you both at the bash! Interesting that my most sensitive child took to B. Kyle was so drawn to her. He is such a wild boy, but so in-tune to others soul's.
ReplyDeleteLife does go on. It is good for B to be around as much life and celebration as possible. Hopefully it will help to balance her thoughts and ideas of death.
let us know if you come to RI this summer, we would love to see you. Hugs, Karen B
I wonder if it's just natural to be very aware of death if a parent or sibling dies when you are a child. I'm sure it's something you never really get over, it's something you deal with. A woman I worked with at Horizons had a sibling who died of leukemia when they were both children. She always feared the worse any time she had something physically wrong with her. It's heartbreaking that B feels she has to worry about such things. The good news is, she is talking about it which gives you the opportunity to reassure her that everything is ok.So great spending some time with you at K's party.
ReplyDeleteHi Pat - so good to see a post and a photo, even if it is of Bennett with a swollen lip (and she's still cute!) Accidents like that are scary - so sudden and painful! Perhaps that's what made her response so extreme. I hope that you are all well now. Can't wait to see you!
ReplyDeleteMary
I would just like to point out that putting images of a little girl in the tub on the internet is a horrible idea. I dont know you, but i would suggest thinking about what kind of depraved minds lurk in the internet and use images like that for their child porn collections. Use your head woman.
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