I can’t count how many times a day my daughter comes to me and says “owie, Mama kiss it!” I’m sure it drives my husband and friends crazy, because no matter what I am doing at the time, I immediately stop to kiss wherever her “owie” is. Once I kiss her, the pain magically goes away and all is right with the world.
Some might say, by continuing to do this, I’m raising a cry baby. I disagree—I’m raising her to be gentle, compassionate, and loving. Don’t get me wrong, I want her to be tough and know how to stand up for herself; but, above all, I want her to have a kind heart.
Unfortunately, there will come a day when my kiss won’t be able to heal all of her wounds.
One day, she will come home from school with hurt feelings because someone teased or excluded her. I will have to do my best to put on a brave face and hide my tears while I try to comfort her. It won’t be a simple kiss that will fix her problems, but maybe the compassion I have shown her will give her the skills she needs to forgive her classmate and inspire them to be nicer.
One day, she will probably come to me crying with a broken heart from her first love. Unfortunately, all the kisses in the world won’t heal her broken heart. I hope the love I have shown her will allow her to open her heart again. Someday, I hope she will find a man like her Daddy who will love her the way she deserves to be loved (hopefully not until she’s 30, but that’s wishful thinking).
Because I know these days are coming sooner than I would like, I will continue to love on my baby and fix all of her owies with kisses—no matter how small they might be.
One day, my healing kisses will be a distant memory; but today, my kisses heal all.
