Learning from our Mistakes

I have always believed - and even shared with my children - that "mistakes are ok as long as you learn from them". If you don't learn then why or what needs to change for you to learn from the mistake? It always seemed like a fairly easy lesson to teach my children. Then our youngest entered the picture.

She is a joy, a blessing, and a delight........but sometimes she's far from easy. I'll give you a little background. She's been walking since she was 8 months old and it opened up a whole word of things to get into. I know this sounds normal, but for us it feels a little extreme. All our other children were quiet, compliant, and yes, even easy. I call her "Joy" - that's what she brings with her. Joy also tests my limits. She's a climber.......climbs on couches, up bunk bed ladders, tables, and more. No matter how many times she's told 'no' and removed from the object she's scaling she will jump right back at it in no time flat. Almost 2 weeks ago she was sitting at the kitchen table with one of her older sisters. I thought they were coloring nicely until I heard the bang. She decided to try to reach across the table for something and her foot slipped of the table bench. When she fell she hit the kitchen chair before the floor. She actually broke her collar bone (remember she's only 17 months old). Since that happened 12 days ago (but who's counting) she has fallen from the same bench 3 more times - one of those times actually landing on her bad arm. I'm just wondering when she's going to learn from this? I'm so glad she brings us joy......when she's not climbing of course :).