Raising a toughie

Children are injury-prone. I'm sure parents the world over would concur.

On our way to nursery today, Cheeks struck her foot against an uneven slab of pavement, tumbled and landed - knees first, then palms down - before ending up completely prostrate on the ground.

...

Eversince she was a wee thing learning to totter about, Dee and I have assumed a 'go on, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, no need for tears' stance whenever Cheeks has a fall.

Or bumps herself.

Or suffers a scratch.

Or takes a knock to the head. (Unless they were super-duperly hard knocks, of course.)

As a result, (we think) Cheeks has grown up to be rather... sturdy?

Or perhaps there is some measure of truth behind the nutritious properties of durians? It's been said that pregnant women who consume durians throughout their trimesters will give birth to robust, bah-bah (firm-skinned & meaty), hardy offspring.

I followed the advice, seeing my ex-boss' 3 strapping, healthy, energetic boys. On a wild night of unstoppable gluttony, I'd wolf down 5 packs of durians on my own. At a go.

So yes, I do wonder whether it is the durians or our low-fuss attitude that has helped Cheeks become the stalwart she is today.

Anyway, I inch closer to take a look at her wounds. As I do so, she begins fishing for sympathy by crying piteously. I notice a few tiny spots oozing with blood on one knee. I wipe them clean. I take a look at her hands. No cuts, grazes or scrapes. Just dirty with bits of gravel.

I'm certain the fall isn't bad. I give her knee a quick peck to kiss the pain away, then tell her everyone trips and falls once in awhile. Even mummy does. But few have red polkadots on their knees like she has.

At the mention of spotty polkadotty wounds, she stops sniffling immediately and manages a chuckle. She likes the sound of that.

She takes one last, cursory glance at her wound, wipes her hands on her jeans then tears down the pavement again.

Pain (if any at all) and injury are clean forgotten.