As parents, we never want our children to suffer. We’ll do anything to help them. But there are times we just cannot help, no matter how much we want to. And it breaks our hearts to watch them struggle and suffer.
This weekend I was not able to help Thing 3 when he needed it, wanted it, and kept asking for my help. It pains me to relive it just by writing about it.
He was playing Super Mario Galaxy on Wii. He was at a new level that he couldn’t figure out how to get past. His usual sources of help in this area, Thing 1 and Thing 2, were not home. So it fell to me.
“Daddy, help me! Show me how to do this”
I tried, but couldn’t figure it out. He got upset. A four year old’s image of a father who knows and can fix everything, shattered, never to return.