Recklessness

In other news...

If a toddler gets hurt during a moment of reckless rule-breaking, when should the parent transition from consoling to lecturing?  "Oh, you poor little monkey-kins.  Oh, let me kiss it.  There now.  There, there.  See, honey, that's why we don't pet the wolverine."

The other day, I got the kids out of the car and carried Rowan down the driveway to the mailbox.  "I det da mayo!" he exclaimed.

"Daddy!  I wanna come to!" shouted Lyla, at which point she began to sprint towards us.  I saw that no cars were coming; hence, it wasn't necessary to put my leg out to clothesline her.  As it turned out, the gravel at the bottom of the driveway took care of her aptly, and she fell and skidded comically on her butt.

"WAAAAAAAAAH!  DAAAAAAAAAAADDY!"

How much consoling before the lecture?  "Lyla, you never run down the driveway.  You never, ever run to where cars are driving."  My vote: zero consoling.

"I HURT MY BUTT, DAAAAAADDY!"

"That's what you get, kiddo.  Hurts, doesn't it?  Don't run on the driveway."

She wasn't really hurt.

"WAAAAAAAAH!

"Did you learn a lesson?"

Cheek to the shoulder, immediately pouty.  "No."

Yes, she did.