Why You Need to Remain Calm when Your Child is Injured

Your child has taken a serious tumble at the park, or a bad hit during a football game. In my case, it was a spill off a rocking ottoman and a smack on the head on bricks that protect the floor from the woodstove. However it happens or how bad the injury, it is totally imperative that you remain calm.

When my youngest daughter was playing on the rocking ottoman and cracked her head on the bricks my initial reaction was annoyance. It didn't occur to me that she was actually seriously hurt. I went into the living room to check on her. I was hugging her when my middle daughter asked why her sister had juice running down her back. Instinctively I knew it was blood. I have major issues with blood. I'm talking pass out at the sight or smell issues. How was I going to take care of this without passing out? Passing out is not an option. I have to take care of two kids under the age of five, one who is bleeding profusely from the head. I know one thing, I can't stand up. Standing up equals passing out. With my daughter lying on my stomach, with a dish rag pressed to her head, I push myself into the kitchen with my legs, no standing required. I grab the phone and call my husband, who thinks I'm joking, and tell him to get home. By the time he arrives home the bleeding has slowed considerably, but her head was going to need stitches. I leave my other daughter with Dad and take bleeding daughter to the hospital where she receives six stitches.

I was totally proud of myself. I didn't freak out or pass out. I stayed calm and collected. Woo-hoo for me. Because I had remained calm, my daughters remained calm. Well of course the one bleeding was crying, but she didn't totally freak out.

There were several more incidents where my children were hurt in some way or another; whether from falling off a bike or a dog bite, to dental work and ear surgery. I keep them calm by staying calm.

By remaining calm I didn't lose my head. I was able to think and do everything I needed to do to care for my kids. Even through surgeries when I really wanted to freak out, I stayed calm so my son would stay calm and relaxed. Because of his attitude, every surgery he has had to endure in his seven years has been no big deal, well at least not to him.

Your children look to you to fix all their problems, even injuries. When you react in a manner that confuses them they will not remain as calm as they can. You can always freak out once the emergency has passed. That's what I usually do.