But they don't tell us things!

She could see her child walking towards the house, returning from playing. She could not understand why, but felt her son walking a bit differently. Slightly worried, she asked, "beta, is everything all right?" To which he replied, "I am fine, mommy, I am all right." She was not convinced, but nodded her head and let it go. Later, however, she could see that things were not as good as her son said. She went to him, sat close to him, put her hand gently on his shoulder, and asked, "son, what happened? You seem struggling to walk. You said everything all right, but it seems you are not. Please tell me what happened." For a moment, he looked miserably into her eyes, then losing all his pretense the young boy started crying; her hands instinctively taking the child into a gentle, caring hug. She told him, "it is all right, tell me what happened. Do not be afraid." Finding courage following her reassurance he told, "Mommy, I fell down while playing and my knee is injured. It is hurting so much."?

Bewildered, she asked, "Why didn't you tell? Why did you lie? She could not understand.

Then he told, "Mommy, I was afraid that you would get angry. I was afraid that you would blame me for not being careful and falling down. I was afraid that you would not let me go and play again. That is why I lied."?

Now she could understand.

With a kind smile on her face, she said, "oh my child, do not be afraid to tell me the truth. It is very usual for children to fall, and sometimes even get injured while playing. I would never blame you for that. After all, falling down is a part of learning to play. And who said you fell because you were careless? Sometimes, while playing, people can and do fall, no matter how careful. What we can do is to take care of it, whenever it happens. Come to think of it, sometimes, these injuries make you stronger. And the injury, we can get it cleaned right now and I am sure it will heal soon. Let me check it. If it is deep we can go to the clinic and get it treated. Of course, I would not ask you to stop playing because you fell down. Maybe you can take a break for a couple of days and go back once the wound is healed. But never hide such things, what if the wound gets infected and becomes a big problem? It can be dangerous!"

I just wanted to tell, the wound can be that of our hearts too. Just a reminder.?

With lots of love,

Dr. Noufal Hameed