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Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Mandy Wichert. I love the taste of salty licorice, and I believe if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living. Are you hard to get through to? Do you take lessons from anecdotes and learn from other’s mistakes or are you more of an “experiencer”, someone who has to learn by making their own mistakes and experiencing the consequences? Do you find yourself repeatedly making the same mistakes or do your life lessons hit home the first time? These are the questions we’ll be exploring today on “Stuff I Learned Yesterday”.
Friday Forum
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Learning the Hard Way:
I’m somewhere in the middle, but I think my son might fall more on the experiencer end of the spectrum. Watching him repeat a familiar mistake, for a costly outcome can be painful for both of us.
Just like many of you, we recently celebrated Labor Day weekend. We had family in town, and hadn’t made any major plans, settling on a low-key three-day-weekend. This was a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of every day life, as we recently moved into a new home, have kids at a brand new school with new sports and new schedules. We really relished the idea of taking a break, and planned to take the kids out on the town for some good-old-outdoor family time!
The weekend started great, with my husband and his father finishing up a major renovation on our kitchen backsplash. I was, and still am, so impressed by their awesome work! Then, after church, while changing a diaper – I unexpectedly REALLY injured my lower back. I’m not a clumsy person, so this was a new one for me! I was changing my little one’s diaper and lifted her up with a little too much gusto and a little too much torque. I immediately knew that the rest of MY weekend plans were going to be heavy on the EASY-DOES-IT! So, family time was made at home instead of outside, and by Monday afternoon, we were all itching to get out of the house to do something – anything! My kids are avid readers, so when my husband suggested “Half Price Books” – my car was roaring with shouts of excitement.
As any family with multiple young children knows, it’s best to have a plan of attack before entering any store – for you, for your kids and especially for other innocent bystanders. We covered some basic rules: No running, no yelling, no talking back & stay together – within reach of Mom and Dad, then… we went inside.
About two minutes in, Jonas found a book he was interested in, but had a question about where it fell in the series he was reading. So, he and my daughter stood by, as I consulted Google for an answer. Then, mass chaos ensued. You see – we have one very unpredictable variable in our family equation. Yes, my youngest. She is approaching the “terrific two’s”. She had spotted something wanted to have “NOW!” and she wanted everyone to know it. I heard her screams growing louder as Clint swiftly maneuvered her cart toward the exit doors – for some “outside” time. I turned to offer to take her outside, because with my back in such a state, that sounded like a good job for me. But Clint had this one under control. When I turned back around to the store, my other two had already disappeared into the abyss of books.
I quickly scanned the aisles, as best I could, hobbling wearily, my back aching wildly with each step. Then I heard a blood-curdling scream. A scream I, unfortunately, easily recognized.
My adrenaline kicked in and I rushed toward my son’s cries. A woman caught my eyes apologetically, and said, “He was running and he slipped and fell. I think he hit his face.” I looked in the direction she was pointing but my son was not splayed out in the aisle. I scanned the back of the store following the cries and found him pacing frantically, screaming with wide eyes, clasping his mouth with both hands. At my request, he lowered his hands to reveal his two front permanent teeth broken in half. They had splintered into tiny shards on impact with the polished cement floor. I attempted to collect them, but no pieces were large enough to salvage.
A million thoughts immediately rushed in. My poor baby! What were we going to do? How were we going to pay for this? Where should we go? Were there even any dentists offices open on Labor Day? Then…How could he do this?!? Didn’t he know better?
You see, we’ve done this before. It was a different place and the injury was to his baby teeth, but the setup was the same. He ran in a place where running was not appropriate, he fell hard, and was really injured. And when he hurts – I hurt. Hadn’t that been enough? Hadn’t he learned his lesson before?
Thankfully, this time, he only has to endure his broken snaggled smile for a week until his dentist can crown his teeth. This was possible because, amazingly, his roots were undamaged.
When the dentist examined my son’s teeth he said, “See? I told you that that wouldn’t be the last time,” referring to the previous tooth injury. I guess some kids are just prone to mouth injuries and he’s grown accustomed to repeat offenders, and my son made his list. You see, my son had to learn this lesson about “walking feet” the hard way – more than once. Hopefully next time he will think twice before running in a store.
Here’s what I learned:
We all learn in different ways. Some of us have to “face the concrete” multiple times before we finally “get it” and understand the lesson that our experience is teaching us, while some of us can learn from other people’s mistakes. We’ve all probably taken the rough road on occasion. I don’t know if this is the last time my son will have to learn this lesson the hard way, but my heart REALLY hopes so. I do know one thing though! You won’t soon catch ME running down your local bookstore aisle.
What are some lessons you’ve had to learn the hard way? Share them in our Friday Forum. Hopefully, someone else can learn from your mistakes.
I’m Mandy Wichert, and this has been Stuff I Learned Yesterday.
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