Time to Talk

When I have a nosebleed I make sure it’s a good one. Twenty minutes is a quick one. Thirty to forty-five minutes is average. When it starts getting close to two hours is when I start to think that maybe I should think about maybe going to a doctor. It’s been that way my whole life. And I’m not the only one in my family that is that way so nosebleeds aren’t something that we freak out about in my family.

Unfortunately Iddo got my nose. Last night was her worst one yet. At 10:30pm we heard her crying in her room and when we went to go check on her she met us half-way in the hall covered in blood and dripping more. I led her into the bathroom, sat her down in my lap, held some kleenex at her nose and started washing her off with baby wipes and singing to her to help her calm down while Brett wiped up the drips on the tile floor and checked out the damage to her bed (which wasn’t a whole lot, surprisingly).

I ended up sitting with her for over an hour as we waited for it to stop and then waited to make sure it stayed stopped. Since she eventually told me to stop singing it gave us plenty of time to talk. And talk we did.

We talked about family history and genetics. I told how her nose is like my nose and like her grandparents’ noses and how that’s because we’re all family and related.

We talked about human anatomy. Because she likes to read our copy of “The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body” she’s familiar with platelets in the blood and what they do. So we talked about how her body was sending platelets to her nose to help the bleeding stop but because of how bad it was bleeding it was going to take a lot of platelets. And then we talked about how she was going to need to take it easy today and drink lots of water today while her body worked on making more blood for her. She asked how her body tells her stuff, like how it tells the platelets where to go. So I asked her if when she needed to go potty if her body told her with words or with a feeling. She said a feeling. I asked her if when she was thirsty if her body told her with words or with a feeling. She said a feeling. I asked her if when she was tired if her body told her with words or with a feeling. She said a feeling.

We talked about personal revelation. After talking about how her body talks to her with feelings and not words I explained that that is often how Heavenly Father talks to us too. When He wants us to know that He loves us He will often tell us with a feeling instead of words. When He wants us to know what to do he will most often tell us with feelings and not words. When He wants us to know He is proud of us, that He is happy for us, he most often will tell us with feelings instead of words.

I am grateful Heavenly Father gives me feelings and impressions so I can take advantage of these moments to talk with our kids whenever they happen to come up. Even if it’s after 11pm while we’re sitting on the bathroom floor.