When our kids fall and hurt themselves, we often react in one of two ways. We might panic and make our kids even more scared and anxious about the fall, or we approach the situation with a little TLC and turn it into a life lesson. Even though we may be a bit worried ourselves, the secret is to never let them know we are. Instead, we should all try to inspire our kids to pick themselves back up and try again.
One dad, Robert, who often shares posts on Instagram that show moments with his two children, recently offered up a perfect example of this and we think every parent — including us — can learn a thing or two from him.
Robert often shares Instagram posts about his "adventures" with his two kids.
The family is often outdoors, embarking on all kinds of active adventures, riding bikes, snowboarding, or skateboarding. Both of Robert's children — his daughter Aubrin and his son Torin — frequently make appearances on the Instagram page doing fun and crazy things with their parents.
Both kids enjoy skateboarding, especially on a mini ramp that Robert built with help from Aubrin.
In a recent video that has gone viral, Robert shared what happened when Aubrin fell while going down the mini ramp.
Although the fall seemed quite hard, Robert remained cool and collected in the video. He asked his daughter, “Did it scare you or did it hurt you?”
His daughter responded that the fall hurt, but he didn't panic. Instead, he praised his daughter for how great her skateboarding techniques were so she could regain some confidence.
Aubrin wanted to try again, but said she was "scared" to do so.
“Sometimes it’s scary doing hard things. And it’s totally up to you whether you want to give it (another) go right now," the Robert told his daughter. He then held his daughter's hands as she went down he mini ramp again, letting her get comfortable with the momentum and the rhythm of the ramp again.
He told her that she didn't have to do the mini ramp if she didn't want to, but his daughter was determined to try again.
With her dad's help, Aubrin practiced dropping in a few more times.
During her practice runs, Robert told his daughter just how amazing and brave he thinks she is for getting back up and trying again after taking such a hard fall.
He continued to praise her confidence and bravery as she tried and tried again. Eventually, Aubrin nailed the maneuver without her dad helping her, and the two celebrated with a secret handshake.
Many people online praised the father for being so calm and communicating so well with his daughter.
"I want to tell you how beautiful I think this is. We did scary sports and stunts and played dangerous ways. My Dad was the the coach most of the time. He mostly shamed us into doing it ,whatever it was…again and again till we got it. Your style is soooo much better and kinder than the version I got," commented one Instagram user.
"This literally made me cry. When you were telling her how good she did in the face of fear. These are things Cashy will remember for the rest of her life and be able to implement in all areas of her existence. Great job being her rock," wrote another.
Robert said the influx of messages he received are evidence that sometimes, parents need to "do better."
So many adults online reached out to Robert saying that they wished their own parents had been more calm and done better handling similar situations.
“The message is clear: We have to do better," he told Today Parents. "Our actions during this crucial and short stretch of time have lasting effects on our children that ripple through future families and generations."
