A great lesson to learn is that you can get through anything life throws at you. Seems simple. Yet, I’m not sure it’s something we just know. Fear gets in the way. It forces us to focus all of our effort on the stress and worry of what is to come, making it that much more scary! So you need a distraction.
In life, all things are temporary. This fact has helped me to get through a lot of tough moments in my life. Knowing that each moment had a finite amount of time attached to it helped me quantify the fear and push through to the other side. I used this tactic with my daughter. She know knows she can get through anything.
The other night, my daughter (5) stumbled into my room a little after 4 AM. She had a sore throat. I got her settled back in bed with a dose of ibuprofen to get us through the rest of the night. Luckily Monday was a “teacher work day” so she was home. Instead of a lazy, relaxing day, we were headed to the pediatrician.
The nurse came in to get her vitals. She asked my daughter why we were there. Upon hearing “sore throat”, she asked to look and see how red it was. Then she said, “I might be back. Let’s see what the Doctor thinks.” She gathered up her paperwork and exited the room.
It was at this moment that my daughter realized a sore throat probably meant a strep test was in her future. She cautiously asked, “Are they going to stick that thing down my throat?” They were. We’ve been here before, many times. There was an immediate sense of panic. I could hear her brain screaming, “Abort! Abort!”
Her mouth dropped open. She started to fidget. Then, we witnessed a miracle. Suddenly, without warning, her throat healed itself! Can you believe it was no longer sore?! Yeah, me either.
While we had a moment alone, I began my attempt to calm her down. To talk her off the ledge.
Me: “It’s not a big deal. I know it feels yucky, but it will be super fast.”
Her: “No! I don’t want to do it. I promise my throat feels better.”
Me: “They have to do it. It is how they determine what germs are making your throat sick.”
I started to explain that the swab takes germs off her throat. Then they examine those germs to tell if they are strep (requiring certain medicine) or a virus (not requiring medicine). If they don’t do this test and she has strep, she could get more sick without the medicine. So it’s important to just suck it up.
Then I said, “Can you count to 3 for me?” Of course she could. What did counting to 3 have to do with anything?
Her: “Yes. 1. 2. 3.”
Me: “How fast did you just count to 3?”
Her: “Really fast.”
Me: “Did you know that in the amount of time you count to 3, they will already be done swabbing your throat?”
She began to ponder that thought as the doctor knocked and entered the room. Her suggestion, of course, was to do a strep test. My daughter turned and locked eyes with me. She had that look that screamed, “Save me!”
When the time came, I swore she was going to jump off the table and run. I simply said, “Just count to 3.” She opened her mouth. As the swab got close I watched her put her fingers up to count. 1.
Done.
I said, “See, you didn’t even get to count to 3!” The look of shock was priceless. She actually started to giggle. Suddenly this thing that seemed so earth shattering became nothing. It was like a light went off for her.
Her: “I did it! It wasn’t that bad.”
Me: “See! It wasn’t a big deal. You just needed to know how fast it would be over and count it down.”
This is a tactic I will use with her in the future. I have used it myself on things like big roller coaster hills, a haunted house, speaking in front of people, doing chores I hate. Just about anything you can think of that you don’t want to do. Every single thing is temporary so you just have to focus on how you will count down to get through the time it will take. Now that she’s seen it in action, she knows she can get through anything life throws at her.
Do you have tips to help you to get through the bad stuff?
