Tuesday, September 11, 2007

September 11th

This is a hard day for me. Every single second of that day is forever etched into my being. I was 11 weeks pregnant with Kelton and this day completely changed how safe I feel in the world.

Kelton came home from kindergarten today full of questions about the twin towers falling. I wish the teacher would have warned us she was planning to talk about it (or that it had come up and they had discussed it). I wasn't prepared for his questions as since it is such an incredibly emotional topic for me, it was difficult for me to get through. It was so hard to talk with him about it and I'm not convinced this was a topic that 5 year olds should have been discussing anyway.

Tonight he was full of fears about this, that or the other thing.

And so it begins....I am no longer the information censor in order to protect him. Somehow that makes today feel even more scary.

7 comments:

Perrin said...

I'm surprised that it was discussed. I don't think my 6 year old knows anything about it although I should probably ask. Just seemed like she wouldn't be ready.

Monogram Queen said...

I'm surprised it was discussed too. It was a very very sad, emotional day

Caroline said...

Wow, I am really surprised that the teacher talked about it. Maybe another student said something about it and then they discussed it.

Unknown said...

I have given this a lot of thought and have NO idea when to bring it up or what to say. I'm so glad that we didn't have our kids when this happened because I don't know how I would have dealt with it then. Very hard day.

Anonymous said...

Can we say the teacher/school dropped the ball on that one?!

There is no need for a KG teacher to be talking about that. Not all kids at that age can fully understand that. And the PARENTS should be the main informers of such issues.

No warning, no note to parents that this was going to be discussed is not good.

Heidi

Shannon said...

Yeah, it seems wrong to me too that you weren't informed that it would be discussed, and that it was discussed at all. Even if it wasn't planned and a kid brought it up, the teacher could have told the child to talk to his or her parents about it.

Lynilu said...

I suppose we should all look for this to be a part of the routine. It is a fact of our lives now, regardless of how hard it is for many of us. I'm like you, Casey, because I was emotionally knocked off my feet and it still makes me weepy. But I think back to the day that Pearl Harbor was attacked and realize that as a a few years later, when I was just a bit older than Kelton, I was curious and asked about it. My mom had trouble explaining it because she lived through the event just as you and I did 9/11. But now, it seems that we can talk about it as a historical fact. A sad one, but just an event.

Yes, the teacher might have advised you. We can't avoid it, however. Your babe is in the big old world, and he will experience things you wish you could protect him from. Think ahead ... can you prepare him for the meaning of and origin of Memorial Day? Maybe you don't need to; it has become just a holiday to so many. I don't know.I wish we could all remain innocent.