Tough Little Cookie

My phone rang Monday while I was in a meeting. It was the director of Ann Catherine's daycare.

She was calling to tell me that Ann Catherine tripped on the playground and hit her head on a pole. She went on to explain that her teacher put ice on it and she was fine. They checked her eyes and there were reacting to light and she wasn't acting disoriented. She basically just had a big goose egg on her forehead. They didn't want to alarm me, but the daycare policy requires them to call parents when a child hits her head.

Chris didn't seem a bit worried, but the mommy in me wanted to see it herself. When my meeting ended, I drove over to AC's daycare and popped in to see her. She was sitting at the table having lunch, oblivious to the giant bump on her noggin.

"Amy, she didn't even cry," her teacher told me. "I mean, she got up and wanted to keep playing, but I made her stop so I could check her and put ice on her head."

Ann Catherine is tough. I mean, really tough. We laugh and say it's the hockey player in her. But seriously, she'll fall and I'll be waiting for the cry, and it never comes. At the neighbor's house the other night she walked in front of a little boy swinging and got knocked to the ground. I was on my way to help her, waiting for her to cry at any minute, and she just got up and kept playing.

I really think God made Ann Catherine tough. I often say that fighting spirit served her well in NICU. He knew that she was going to have a rocky start in life and he gave her the will, strength and perseverance to fight - no matter how tough it seemed.

I absolutely love that part of her.

We adults could learn something from our kids. When life knocks us down, put a little ice on the bruise, wipe the dirt off your hands and keep going.