Acknowledge it

One of the greatest joys in life is to be able to hold your grandchild. (We all need to be held). I have an outdoor swing with a canopy top where I spent many hours singing and rocking him to sleep when he was in his infancy. Almost three years old now, he'll run off and rarely has the time to be held. Playing is the priority. The exception was usually when he is not feeling well, or scared of something. Or, whenever he needs to have his boo-boo kissed.
Did you ever witness a child falling down and being pulled up literally without any comforting from the caregiver? I think that's indicative of a future problem. Did you ever see a child that is allowed to continue to wail and wail and wail. That is another problem. So many kids today are like that for some reason. A child needs to be acknowledged, and so does the child within at every age. They need answers to their "Whats that?" question(s). Everyone is so busy today. Children are tossed around from birth. Sadly, some aren't cared for properly.
So, how do you stop a wailing child? Anyway you can, quickly. Words of comfort help. I''ll ask him where the boo-boo is, getting him to talk about it. After I find out what is wrong, we quickly move on. End of subject, period. Listening skills are important at this age and a lot of patience is needed.
I recall reading that hidden pain not expressed, can become problematic years later, leading to illness.
Kissing the boo-boo and acknowledging the pain is so important.
Here are some of the remarks I use to counter the scared of with:
The doggie doesn't do that...
Look at the... (diverting his attention)
Scared of the ants--You are bigger than they are...
Scared of the bees--be still and they'll go away
Scared of the fans--???
We could go on and on about scared of, but the point is I acknowledge it. (What seems to be small to us is huge to them. (Getting hurt is not fun). Bear hugs help no matter what the age. (I always tell him if he is a good boy he'll get a treat to take home). Or, I use the sticker method. Nathan loves the Mighty Machines video, which translates to 90 minutes of quiet time.
One cannot underestimate an almost three-year-old child, they can do just about anything, and they will tell you the truth.
When my nephew Matt was at that same age, I watched him for a while. He was so funny. One day, I went to his house and as I stood in the doorstep, he noticed something was different. Then he remarked "Auntie, put some lipstick on". And he noticed that at two? Children are very observant and will repeat everything you say (when you least expect it).
Another day, we were "pretend" fishing in my backyard. I watched him holding a stick with a string tied to it, hovering over the circle I drew on the snow-covered ice. He was going to catch a fish. He kept saying "I'm a fisherman." I lost it! Couldn't stop laughing. He looked up at me and said very expressly, "your a clown". Maybe I am?

Kiss The Boo-Boo

The tiny baby came into this world and he was a wonder. So much to learn, and so much for me to relearn. It was a rough ride and the unnamed child would need to be comforted. Thats just the beginning. When he was small it seems he didn't make much noise, sleeping most of the time. Looking back, I was repeating the same process that I encountered in my childhood, helping to raise my youngest brother while my mom worked full-time or like most, all of the time, except when she took cat naps for ten minutes or so. Then, came my own children, and now the grandchild. As they grew older the crying grew louder. Because there were no words, it meant pick me up if you want sanity. The pattern is the same generation after generation. We call it crawling some call it peeping, you might have your own term for starting to advance on the floor, first etching forward and lastly getting the back end up and rocking to advance inches at a time. It is all so mysterious and interesting to watch how hard the baby must work. I happened to notice how certain times of the day he would just exercise parts of the body that would prepare him for the next phase in this process called development. Then it happened. Oops! little injuries, like falling on his face. I do believe the next action was mine--kiss the boo-boo. The little comfort provided seemed to do the job, and the crying stopped for the moment. That is how it all begins and never ends. This process requiring comfort changes as children grow older, but follows us into our adulthood. Their are many ways to kiss the boo-boo that I have learned.
We all need to be comforted in some way. Some methods you have heard of, like cookies. Cookies are tear stoppers for most children and men. Eating for comfort or comfort foods are probably why some people are overweight, beside the galanans a subject for another day. I recall just yesterday, that my little grandson hit his head lightly on an outdoor patio chair, he immediately began to wail, looking to be comforted. This time all it required was the words "your all right", while he looked me in the eye. Sometimes that is all it takes. Someone to kiss the boo-boo. Someone they trust to tell them that all is well. Until next time.