Abby has been in this phase lately where she worries... about... EVERYTHING.
Every day, we are asked a million questions that always begin with "What would happen if..." and seem to usually end with "Would it kill me?" For instance, this morning, she wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I informed her that we were out of peanut butter. She then suggested that perhaps just a jelly sandwich would be delicious, to which I replied that it might not be the best idea. "Why? Would I die?"
A minute ago, I picked up an egg roll and broke it in half and handed it to her. Just prior to that, I had rinsed my hands off at the sink. Before she would eat her half of the eggroll, she said, "Did you just wash your hands? Did you use soap? Are there any chemicals on your hands?"
The other day, she walked into my room, very concerned and said, "How hard is it to break your fingers off?" She was extremely worried because she had been playing with Carson and his fingers "cracked" and she thought his finger was going to fall off.
A couple days ago, I picked her up from school and she had put hand sanitizer on her hands and then on her lips. I told her not to, that hand sanitizer was just for hands. I then had to spend the next 30 minutes convincing her that she was not going to be deathly ill because of it.
It's a little bit funny... a little bit exhausting... :) Is this a normal phase?! How do you teach kids about not worrying. So far it's mostly health related, and hopefully all of her questions are born more out of curiosity than fear. But I know how gripping worry and fear can be and I hope that we're able to show her that she can trust God in ALL things big and small.
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
Matthew 6:27
Every day, we are asked a million questions that always begin with "What would happen if..." and seem to usually end with "Would it kill me?" For instance, this morning, she wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I informed her that we were out of peanut butter. She then suggested that perhaps just a jelly sandwich would be delicious, to which I replied that it might not be the best idea. "Why? Would I die?"
A minute ago, I picked up an egg roll and broke it in half and handed it to her. Just prior to that, I had rinsed my hands off at the sink. Before she would eat her half of the eggroll, she said, "Did you just wash your hands? Did you use soap? Are there any chemicals on your hands?"
The other day, she walked into my room, very concerned and said, "How hard is it to break your fingers off?" She was extremely worried because she had been playing with Carson and his fingers "cracked" and she thought his finger was going to fall off.
A couple days ago, I picked her up from school and she had put hand sanitizer on her hands and then on her lips. I told her not to, that hand sanitizer was just for hands. I then had to spend the next 30 minutes convincing her that she was not going to be deathly ill because of it.
It's a little bit funny... a little bit exhausting... :) Is this a normal phase?! How do you teach kids about not worrying. So far it's mostly health related, and hopefully all of her questions are born more out of curiosity than fear. But I know how gripping worry and fear can be and I hope that we're able to show her that she can trust God in ALL things big and small.
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
Matthew 6:27
I think at this age they just become obessed with the thought of dying. My kids dont think so much in the way Abby does but they do talk about dying a lot. What if....I die, they die, dad dies, they dont want to die, they dont want us to die. That kind of thing. It is a Great teaching time with the bible and about God. I would just use those moments to use scripture but dont stress....I think it is just a stage.
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