Pain Valuation and Children.

"Son, pain is a biological sensation; a reaction of your nerves to let you know something is happening to your body. Don't judge it. Agony is a construction of the mind, however." I said this to my 8 month old son ,Joseph, using my most professor-like tone, sounding intelligent and world-wise. He looked at me blankly and then broke out into excited giggles and goos. That's the effect I imagined it would have on him. Went right over his head, I thought and smiled. I kissed him on the forehead and conceded that some things would have to be experienced and not taught. Of course,  lack of understanding is easy to brush off when we both are happy and having breakfast, but is quite a different story when he is up at 3 am with a tooth ache, screaming like his world is ending. I'm certainly not going to be telling him at 3 am that pain is only a sensation while he's screaming bloody murder. 
So, what is a parent supposed to do to make their children understand that pain has a place in our lives that is valuable and needed? I've come to find that the sensation of pain is a true companion but not until many years later. I tend to believe that had I a better understanding of pain, I might have advanced my own spiritual evolution far earlier. Is this not something we want for our children? The last thing I want for our children is for them to spend time and effort in life avoiding pain-for the sake of pain. The truth is that only acceptance of pain opens life's greatest opportunities. Bless each painful moment with a smile and as an opportunity to grow. Refuse to judge it. Breathe deeply into it, and exhale it as warm air. Awareness is your saving grace. Build positive energy around it and beam it out constructively. On a long enough timeline, pain realization becomes irrelevant and it no longer occupies space in your conscious awareness.