The laughing wounded

Another one (of just a precious few...) of the hidden benefits of having multiple kids, versus having just one, is that wailing and whining over minor (or even non-) injuries is greatly reduced, without your having to do anything at all. This is at least true at the age my kids are (3 and 1), though I can see when you throw in scamming and scheming as they get older, the whining could actually increase over time. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

For the time being, though, I can't tell you how many times I've heard a head go "donk" in the afternoon, then silence for a second, and instead of crying next I hear laughing. This laughing, of the non-injured party (of course), is closely followed by the laughter of the successfully infected afflicted party.

This phenomenon works the same for both kids throughout the day, and let me tell you, I relish being freed of the constant dilemma of, "do I encourage the kid to fall apart at every little thing by fawning over him/her and checking for injuries, or do I seem heartless by basically not reacting at all?"

Between those two choices, I tend towards the latter most of the time, since it's usually pretty clear what warrants attention and what doesn't. I wait to see if the kid is shocked or otherwise on the fence about the event, and if so, I say something like, "Whoopsy!" in a happy voice. If it's for real, there's not usually a need to wonder about it. The rest of the time, I say if the kid wants a hug, why not, but otherwise it's no big deal. This has served us well so far. [A side note to the prospective parents out there: babies understand when they're being openly mocked at an astoundingly young age.]

By this point, if D- is crying or complaining about an injury, unless he's just really tired and cranky, you know he's earned it, and he can have some coddling. I don't think this will be an issue with the bulldog that is M-, but we still have to maintain my aloof demeanor to make sure we don't break her.

Outside whatever J- and I are teaching them with this, what they are teaching each other now is that watching other people get minorly injured is generally pretty funny, but then that's just a universal truth we all discover eventually. If you haven't yet, and especially if you already have, I highly recommend going to YouTube and searching for "people falling". If you're too lazy for that, here's a sample: