[originalgeek]

I am a parent, and apparently, you can't read. I quite narrowed my statement to cover situations where THE CHILD IS INJURED. Not when the child is throwing a tantrum, or trying to negotiate. WHEN INJURED. CAN YOU READ IT IN CAPS?

[83457]

If the child was actually injured would they stop crying just out of habit? IMO one of the main reasons for performing some sort of redirection, kissing the boo-boo, etc is to find out if they are actually injured. In my experience my son may still indicate that his boo boo hurts a bit but he remains calm and verbalizes that fact. I've seen some parents freak out and dwell on the incident and go on and on while the child is sobbing. I think it is better to not make a big out of it, get the child calm by taking their mind off the incident, then attend to the injury if needed. What is worse... A child crying their head off for minutes while you hold them or bringing them to a state of calm in the matter of seconds?

[hammock]

My parents had a rule "no blood no bandaid." Which, in practice, was more metaphorical than anything. Basically it meant suck it up and walk it off. Good lesson.

[Confusion]

'Injured' is not well defined. I know a 4 y/o who, when he falls and hurts something (and that happens often enough), simply gets up, cleans it (if necessary) and goes on. He may cry/shout for a moment, like you would go 'Ouch, !!$%#&$&^', but that's the end of it. That makes another that cries and stays down until mommy comes to get him look as if he was raised pretty badly. Those are the extremes and you seem to be placing each other on opposite ends of it.