During the school holidays, my 5.5yo rode his bike into a pole.

He didn’t have a concussion. He didn’t break any bones. In fact, the only thing he broke was his fingernail.

I wasn’t there when it happened. Apparently there was a lot of blood. And screaming.

We took him to a clinic and the nurse said, “Oh! He’s pulled the whole nail out at the cuticle. That means it’ll never grown back.”

I was a little shocked by this. “Aren’t finger nails supposed to grow back??”

I asked a whole lot of other questions, like “What will be there instead of a nail? Will it be prone to infection? Could he have some kind of surgery to implant the cuticle back? Or a fake nail he could wear? Can’t I do something?!”

But no. My little guy will have a funny little finger for the rest of his life.

Perhaps being pregnant and all, I got a bit emotional and upset.

I mean, IT IS just a fingernail. It’s not like he’s missing his whole finger.

And my son was very unconcerned by it. As a matter of fact, he thought it was quite cool.

I guess I was floored by how such a small, almost silly incident, can make a mark on us for the rest of our life.

It kinda makes me want to wrap my children up and protect them from the big, bad world.

On the other hand, it’s inspiring to remember that small, wonderful incidents can have an equally positive affect on us for the rest of our lives.

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