Oh the irony.

This is St. Patrick's Day. This is my 6 year old daughter Alissa. She's at the hospital on St. Patrick's Day. Her shirt says charming and lucky. I couldn't help but sit in the ER looking at her shirt thinking, "Girl, you are not so lucky today". Oh the irony. We spent all Saturday, mostly having fun outside. We love to be outside when it's nice out. Anyway, I was running the dog on the 45 inch leash, I told Alissa not to grab the leash. She did, and at a very strong force, the dog pulled her into the pavement. She couldn't move her wrist. So, fast forward, we're at the ER, and after waiting a while, she doesn't act like it hurts so bad. She does exaggerate. It's her personality. She has a wonderful personality BTW. The Doctor comes in, and she can't act out her part in acting like she's hurt bad. She exaggerates the ow, says ow when the Dr. isn't touching her, the dr. says I don't know about that. Long story short, x-rays come back negative, nothing broken. We go home, and she said she's just joking. I thought to myself, I could be uptight and agitated, but this is a learning opportunity for her. I taught her not to exaggerate when your hurt so we know at what degree to treat you. It just doesn't help. I showed her the story of the boy who cried wolf. I explained there are people in the ER a lot worse off than you, like the boy who fell on his head off of the playground equipment, that was rushed in the ER, and his parents were ignorant enough to not be so concerned, relaxed, and on the phone talking about their "plans for tonight". The 65 year old man with the low heart beat with congestive heart failure. So, I explained that to her, because Mommy used to be a Nurses aid, and take care of people. I taught her to save her acting for her play time, and not the er or when you're hurt. I taught her to care for the sick. I didn't scold her, make her feel bad, beat her, punish her. No, it's an slo Significant learning opportunity. I disciplined her, taught her. After all the definition of discipline is to teach.