Sometimes they aren’t happy. The loss of a pet or family member or a tragic accident. My first memory I can recall starts with playing upstairs with some of my friends. The little girls were playing push the screen…or something ridiculous like that. When it was my turn I remember running toward the screen and then nothing. I don’t remember falling, and I don’t remember having to where a trash bag over my arm to take a bath. I just remember the game that we were playing before I fell out of a window.
Children are resilient. They fall down and get back up. It’s how they learn, and it is through failure that we really gain knowledge. Many people struggle with the concept of failure, and the struggle becomes more prevalent when it is your child. Children fail, it is how they learn, but what if it is a failure that seems to be keeping them down that’s when the pain gets real. We are blessed to have a great heavenly Father that has created us all in his image. As it says in Psalm 139:14 “I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” God is there to help guide us through the pain of failure. He knows the plans for our lives, and the children’s lives he has entrusted us to guide and develop.
My father was rock climbing on a rock face next to his friend’s house when he peered down and saw me sprawled out on the clay ground below. His heart went into his throat, and because of the distance he could not tell if I was bleeding lying in the clay dirt below. The Lord was definitely with me that day. I had only sprained my wrist, but my parents took the time to get me checked out. They didn’t let me just sit in pain, they jumped into action. Just as they did once they knew that my brother had ADHD. He was in kindergarten when he was diagnosed, and as hard as they tried it took many years to piece together how to reach his unique mind.
This brings me to my point, early diagnosis and intervention. My brother had other issues beyond his ADHD, but the initial diagnosis began to help our family understand him. In this vast world we live in there are many people who struggle. Some it is easy to see, like a child lying on the ground from a great fall. Others it is not easy to recognize, and then sometimes it is easy to ignore. I do not dare to compare children’s potential because each child is unique, but I do compare their abilities based on benchmarks for their age. These benchmarks are important, and if you are seeing that your child is struggling, you have to act.
I brought up in my story how I did not remember the healing process or even the fall from when I was a child. It is because I was not meant to remember. Most children do not retain vivid memories until four years old. I say this because if you are noticing problems at a young age that is the time to act. Early intervention could bring about a lifetime of change that your child may not even remember. The gap grows daily as children attend school, but when you step in early you are more likely to close the gap.
If you are seeing issues, please feel free to ask your child’s teacher for resources. The Early Childhood Center at Christ the King has great literature on child development and age appropriate benchmarks. Please know that we are here to help your child grow and thrive through their early years and throughout life.
Miss Angie Acerra
STRIDES Teacher