Hallie's class has to do a current event presentation every week. It's the teacher's way of getting the kids familiar with the world around them. I typically help her find the event each week and I quickly censor topics as we're searching news sites. But then I come across a particularly hard news week where I'm searching to find something more light than recent bombings and attacks.
She's old enough - she knows these events are taking place - we have the news on often enough that its unavoidable. But it's the questions you can't answer as a parent that make it hard. Buy why that place? But why those people? Who would ever do something so mean? Will they catch them? Questions I, myself, am searching for answers to. It's heartbreaking, really.
I remember trying to explain to both Hallie and Hunter the reason why September 11 is such a special day. How did they get on the plane? They actually hit the building, but they would die too? Why that building? That just doesn't make sense.
It doesn't make sense, that's why it's so hard to understand for me as an adult - not to mention my young innocent children. To put it simply for them I explain, sometimes bad things happen to good people because bad people make poor decisions. Fortunately for us - there's more good people than bad.
I love the Fred Rogers quote: When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping."
I've decided to make it a point to help my kids recognize helpers in all situations - we won't always understand why things happen the way they do but we can always keep an eye out for those making a positive impact. Look for the helpers.
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