Our twins got back from a trip with friends where they had a great time. The last day of the trip they spent the afternoon on a boat and didn’t use sunscreen. Of course they came back with painfully red sunburns on their shoulders and backs. We keep an aloe plant growing in our livingroom and so when they got home we were immediately cutting leaves off the large aloe plant and applying the gell to all the red areas after they had a cool shower. Liz and I were empathetic and understanding and gave them lots of TLC. Our friend who led the trip was concerned and apologetic and we assured him that this was a natural part of life and a great lesson for our boys.
I always remember getting a bad sunbburn at the beginning of each summer no matter how many times my mom reminded me to use sunscreen. After the initial lesson I was always more careful for the rest of the summer. As parents, we can be tempted to over remind our children of these types of things, but the best teacher is always life experience. Every experience is an opportunity for our children to learn responsibility and to take care of themselves. Our children learn important life lessons with the loving support of parents who allow their children to feel the pain created by their poor choices (literal sunburn pain in this case). Of course, safety always comes first, and it’s vitally important for the parents to also be engaged, empathetic and understanding through the whole process.
Combining empathy and support with allowing our children to feel the natural life consequences of their choices creates growth and maturity in our children. I know our twins will need no further reminders this summer about sun screen.
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