Giving Your Child A Second Chance – Fridays with Ferne: Episode #42

This week’s podcast is about Ferne’s childhood; here is her story:

As a child, my mother always praised me for my strawberry cutting skills – I know, oddly specific and not widely useful, but nevertheless, I was proud. I was probably eight years old when I was cutting some strawberries, and I accidentally cut my finger instead.

There was a little blood, but nothing too serious. I started crying anyway, not because it hurt, but because I had messed up my special task. I was worried that I wasn’t good at it anymore.

Surprisingly, after my mom cleaned me up and gave me a band-aid, she sent me straight back to work. I was shocked but elated, I didn’t want to stop something I was good at. My question to my mother is: Why did you trust me? How did you know that I wouldn’t hurt myself again?