REAL TALK | Bravery Powder

As parents, sometimes we find ourselves telling our children things that will comfort them to get them through a difficult situation, or something they perhaps just don't quite understand "why".  Most recently in our house we dealt with the start of preschool, which if you are a longtime reader you probably already knew that -- ha!  But one of the things my son struggled with was me leaving him at school.  He was nervous about mommy leaving, if mommy would come back, etc.  I'm sure this scenario is not unfamiliar to most.  So... enter Bravery Powder.

I am grateful to have a job, aside from my business, that has allowed me to alter my schedule at work ever so slightly so I can take my son to school and pick him up so I don't have to rely on my family as much as I was worried I would need.  That said, I was getting to work far later in the morning that I anticipated because of the dreaded morning drop off.  For me, it was getting really exhausting.  Of course in the mind of a four year old, I'm sure it is very nerve wracking watching your mom leave and even though she came back yesterday, what if she doesn't come back today?  Not to mention that we had a pretty rough start so I'm sure THAT wasn't helping any.

So, one morning, I was chatting with the kiddo at breakfast and talking about morning drop off and how mommy would take him for a treat after school (okay, Starbucks haha!) if he let me drop him off.  It immediately started a tailspin of crying and fear.  In a moment of "ah-ha!" I off-handedly said, "what if mommy puts bravery powder in your breakfast?" My son looked at me, perplexed, and said, "what's bravery powder?"

Well crap, mom, now you have to make up a definition off the cuff... and before coffee.  Great job.

In hopes to get him off the trail of my obvious story telling, I told him that it was a yummy powder that helped kids be brave when they needed to be.  But, those of you who know my child, know that's not where it ended.  "What does it look like?  Can I see it?  How big is it?  What color is it?"

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!  

"Buddy, it's something that only adults can see and use.  If I show it to you, it won't work anymore.  It's kind of like Bubbles, your Christmas elf.  You know how you can't touch him or he loses his magic?  It's just like that."  Thankfully that seemed to work and he said he would try it.  So I gave him his breakfast, and he grinned and said, "Mommy, I don't see the bravery powder!", to which I responded, "well you're not supposed to buddy!  Just eat your breakfast."

That morning, drop off went beautifully.  When I picked him up after school, he was SO happy with himself, and of course I was proud of him.  For several weeks following, and even still sporadically, he will ask me as we are walking in to school, "mommy, did you put bravery powder in my breakfast?"  Yes baby, I did.  

The whole idea of it got me thinking on a larger scale.  I somehow was able to convince my son, using only words of encouragement, that I had put something into his breakfast food that would somehow give him the confidence he needed to do something that was completely foreign to him and, quite frankly in his little mind, scary.  Isn't that was being a believer in God is similar to?  Trusting that He is there and taking care of things, even if we can't actually SEE it?  I know, that's crazy, right?  But it's true.  There's a lot of times that I am getting ready to go into a situation and I am just scared to bits, and I say a prayer and even though to some it just looks like I'm talking to myself, I know in my heart that my voice is heard and He is with me.  When I'm having a bad day, or there's just a really bad situation brewing, and I need help... I just know He is there.  I trust He is there because of the Bible, because I've seen Him in action, and so many other things.  Just because I don't SEE him doesn't mean He isn't there.

Granted, there isn't really a jar of bravery powder in my pantry, and it's not something I can get two-day shipping on from Amazon.  But it is something that I offer my son when he needs it, and it is me encouraging him in a time when he needs it most.  He knows that no matter what, mommy is there for him and he will be OK.

Never would I have thought that something so simple could make such a huge impact not only on my son, but on me.