Hi Friends,
Today’s newsletter is flying in from the airport. Our trip has come to an end. The last three weeks were spent visiting friends and family all over Spain.
The past week, my daughters and I went to take a walk at El Retiro, Madrid’s most famous park for its sculptures and fountains. There are many playgrounds kids can use, and we had spent about twelve minutes in one of them when one of the most meaningful learning experiences occurred.
El Retiro Accident
My daughters were playing and I had just given them two more minutes before we would leave. Just then a mother rushed in with her three-year-old, to wheel the merry-go-round. Her daughter held on tight to the wheel, but as her mother started spinning, her small finger got caught in the metal doing the turning.
The girl started crying and screaming, and her mom panicked and started asking for help.
Another woman and I quickly came over to offer help. We tried taking her finger out but didn’t want to hurt her little hand more than it was. The more the wheel turned, the more her finger got stuck. We tried using our keys to pulley open the two metal pieces.
Nothing. NADA. Nil.
3 minutes into the situation, there were 30 people around us, a crying little girl in pain, and a panicking mom.
Another person called the emergency and the park rescuers as we continued helping out this little girl.
After 4 minutes, I looked up and checked on my daughters. They were staring at the whole thing in panic. I knew this was a learning experience they would never forget.
We were finally able to help the little girl take her finger out as the paramedics arrived. Thankfully, the little girl’s finger was treated and she was alright.
When I came over to my daughters, my eldest started crying. I hugged her. I was also shaken and nervous. The first thing they asked me was “mom, is the little girl ok? I feel nervous”
We stayed until the paramedics took them to the ambulance.
Prayed for the little girl and her parents.
Started to head home.
Any Thoughts?
As we were heading home. My question for them was:
What did we learn from this?
Kids learn by doing. They learn from experiences. Kids are watching every. step. you. take. They are hearing every word you say and mimicking it in their own way.
We go through experiences that are full of emotions, or others that aren’t. But what we need to harvest in our kids is love for learning.
And learning happens in every situation if we look for what to learn.
Learning that Happened on the Playground That Day…
What my kid’s mentioned learning:
To be safe in the playground.
To ask for help.
That we should help even the kids we don’t get along well with at the playground. (lol! I don’t know who she was thinking about, but glad she reflected upon this 😂)
What I shared with them that I learned:
Offer help when you find someone in need. even when you think you are no help, you can always help the parents stay calm, they are usually the ones who panic first.
Stay calm in emergencies.
Get trained for emergencies. Accidents happen in a matter of seconds.
I am still thinking and researching what are the best ways to prepare our kids for emergencies. If you are interested in learning more about this, hit the reply button.
This is all for this week.
Thank you for reading.
Please share your thoughts or questions, I love hearing from all of you!
Stay safe, stay healthy!
Alexandra