a scraped knee

at work this morning there was this little boy who tripped on this little girl's puzzle she had been working on all morning.  He was so apologetic to her for tripping on it... then noticed as he got up from the ground that he had scraped his knee. 

Tears began to roll down his face.  He went over to a couch and began to cry. 

As I went to help him he said, "No no no... don't look.  I'm ok."

I had to see if he really was ok - or if he needed a band aid.  But he was so insistent that I not look at his scraped knee that I knew if I insisted that it would make the situation worse.  So I asked him if he would like a hug.  He looked up and said "Yes" and then just snuggled in my arms for a bit. 

The tears were now streaming down his face.  My eyes started welling up with tears for him. I wiped his tears and gave him a few more hugs and said, "It's ok... I'll just look at your knee - I need to see if I can help" but he had the same reply.

He was embarrassed that he was hurt - and he didn't want anyone to worry about it.  It wasn't a big deal... but it was... his heart was a bit broken over it.  

I asked him if he wanted to sit on the couch for a while and he said yes... and cuddled into the couch by himself. 

Another little girl saw what was happening and as I walked away she walked up to him and said, "look... it's ok - I have owies too!"  This broke my heart.  She could see where he was at and wanted to help.  She could relate to him and let him know it was going to be ok.  She said to him, "Look... I have owies on my leg too..." and began to show him the 5 that she had on her leg {some were mosquito bites...} but they helped make him comfortable with his own scrape.  She reaffirmed him... "It's ok to have owies... they will get better."


She helped him open up and not be afraid to show his pain. 

This little boy has one of the most sensitive and precious hearts! So innocent and loving! 

I think as adults there are times {probably a majority of the time} that we don't want to show our pain.  We can say, "No no no.  I'm ok... I don't want you to have to deal with this.  I can handle it on my own."  

BUT - if we would learn from these little kids - who don't always know how to communicate - but most of the time they communicate better than we do... it's better to let someone in, hold us and cry with us and help us get through painful times in our lives. We CAN let people see our scratches or  bumps, mosquito bites... or deep scars.  We don't have to hide the imperfections in our lives. Whatever it is - we can let people see it and help us heal.  

I learned a lot today from that little boy and little girl - and his scraped knee.