“I don’t want the stingie stuff, Daddy!”

Gretchen sat on the front porch steps of the Harris house, letting her father Scott tend to her skinned knee.

Well, almost letting him.

“Gretchen, honey, I know it doesn’t feel good, but-”

“It HURTS, Daddy,” she corrected him in the way only a child can.

“That means it’s doing its job and cleaning the wound. You don’t want it to get yucky, do you?”

“Can’t you just wipe off the blood?”

“No, Gretchen.”

The little girl growled.

“Do not growl at me, young lady.”

“You got a minute, Honey? We’re on the porch,” Scott asked Hannah via their telepathic link, as he closed his eyes then prayed for patience. He knew his daughter was scared of the “stingie stuff”, but as active as she and her friend Tyler were, Scott and Hannah were going to have to buy stock in the company that made it. And she was going to have get used to it.

The front door opened and Hannah stepped out of the house. Gretchen scampered up the steps.

“Mama, Daddy wants to put the stingie stuff on my knee!”

Hannah picked up her daughter. Gretchen wasn’t usually so dramatic. But something about antiseptic bothered her.

“Well, it looks like you skinned your knee, Baby. We need to clean it up so it doesn’t get infected.”

“But can’t we just put some water on it?”

“We could use soap and water, but I think the stingie stuff would be better.”

Gretchen looked like she was about to cry. “But Mama-”

Hannah sat down on the steps and put Gretchen in her lap. “Gretchen. Why are you so scared of the stingie stuff?”

“Because it hurts.”

“So are you scared of the stuff, or are you scared of the hurt?”

Gretchen paused. “The hurt.”

Hannah tucked a stray piece of hair behind Gretchen’s ear. “I know that it hurts. But it also helps. You can’t be scared of it all the time, Sweetie. You have to be brave.”

Gretchen scrunched up her face.

“How about you hold my hand while Daddy puts the stuff on your knee? And you can squeeze my hand when it hurts. Okay?”

“But I don’t want the-”

“Gretchen Louise,” Hannah said, in a calm and no-nonsense tone. The little girl stopped.

“Okay, Mama.”

Hannah held out her hand and Gretchen took it. Scott looked at his daughter. She was on the verge of tears. He hated it.

“Okay, Gretchen. I want you to watch me. I’m going to put the stingie stuff on this piece of gauze.” He held it out to her. “Give it a sniff.”

The little girl hesitantly leaned towards the gauze. “Yuck.”

“It smells a little like the infirmary, doesn’t it? Like the medicines Mama uses to help people?”

Gretchen thought for a minute. “Yeah….”

“Well, the stingie stuff is like medicine. It helps you get better.”

She sighed dejectedly. Hannah squeezed her hand just a bit, trying to reassure her.

“Okay, Daddy. Just don’t put too much on.”

Scott took the gauze and touched it to Gretchen’s knee. Her little face contorted and and she squeezed Hannah’s hand. She winced and almost whimpered as he worked, but she didn’t say anything else.

Scott finished tending to her knee, and covered it up with a bandage. He knew she’d be right back out in the dirt as soon as she felt like it.

Gretchen looked down at her knee, twisting her foot around in an awkward little movement.

“All better?” Scott asked.

Gretchen nodded. She still had a sad look. “Thank you.”

Hannah looked at her daughter. “What is it, Gretchen?”

The little girl didn’t look up. “It still hurt. Even when I was being brave.”

“I know. Being brave doesn’t stop the hurt. But the hurt was a little easier to deal with, wasn’t it?”

Another sigh. “Yeah.”

Scott kissed her knee. “Does that make it feel better?”

Gretchen giggled. “Yeah.”

“Well, let me give it some more,” he said, covering his daughter’s knee in exaggerated kisses. She started to laugh.

“Stop it, Daddy!” she squealed in delight.

Scott gave her a growly kiss on the top of her head, then carried the stingie stuff and its tools back into the house; leaving mother and daughter on the porch.

“Think you can be brave next time, Gretchen?”

She paused. “I guess so.”

“You guess so, huh?”

“Yeah.”

Hannah have her little girl a hug and kissed her cheek. She and Scott wanted Gretchen to be independent and stand on her own. They didn’t want her to be afraid. And sometimes they had to push her through processing things, not just walk her through them.

“We’re probably going to raise a little amazon,” Hannah thought. And that would suit them just fine.

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