My son had a friend over this weekend. They were playing in the meadow, when there was an accident resulting in the friend’s thumb being cut. The other boy walked calming to the house licking his thumb the whole way, while my son sprinted to the house. He screamed for me, then went straight to the first aid box. When I got to them, his friend was sitting down with his thumb above his head and my son had the first aid kit in hand while telling me what happened.
Everything was cleaned up, plastered applied, other parents informed, and soon the boys were back in the meadow. As I watched them go, I was proud of them. They were two 7 (almost 8) year old boys who had responded perfectly to a crisis. They’ve seen us as adults and parents respond previously and so knew what to do. I never knew they knew what to do, but they did and I was proud.
The same happens all the time in other areas of our lives – with adults as well as children. When we share our knowledge with others. We don’t always know what sinks in, what connects with others. And sometimes we need to pause and look around to notice what others are now asking, seeing, doing, and so on because of us. And yes, it is not all because of us, but we are contributors and it doesn’t help to downplay that.
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