Ahhhh.... humanity.
What the hell just happened? sigh. I was totally enjoying my very fun morning of working with my Jr. High girls on the school's yearbook - which is hosted online for design purposes and up pops the Boston bombing and a very graphic, bloody picture. Good day well and truly: over. Class broke up and we headed outside, by this time my cell phone (like everyone else in America's I'm sure) is blowing up with people on facebook talking about their friends are running (Portland is a BIG running town... all my friends are hot, skinny b*tches who run. lol :) - and immediately my hearts sinks. I drive home, open the front door and ask The Bubbie if she's seen the news.... she hasn't. We turn off the Wii and suddenly the screen is filled with runner falling, smoke filling the air and people running..... The Boy is immediately upset..... "Why is there all that smog, Mom?" Wait... how the hell does The Boy know what 'smog' is? never-mind......... "Umm... well, lots of people were running a race today and someone set of a bomb where a bunch of people were standing and the 'smog' is smoke from the bomb....." I explain. "Oh......" he say's, a bit mesmerized by the images on TV. I pause for a second.... is he too young to see this? Should I usher him out of the room until the channel is turned.....? Well, right or wrong....I don't. I don't know if that was the right choice or not.... I mean, it's pretty awful to see. It's a lot for my mind to process... surely he can't fully grasp what's happening? And even if he can... should he? Are these themes of death and carnage too much for his young and innocent mind.... probably. But the images came up so fast - it was seconds on the screen as soon as the TV turned on and I don't think The Bubbie and I were expecting that. At the same time.... this kid has already seen his fair share of emotional carnage and come through fine - so... I decide to roll the dice and let him watch the new with me. I sit next to him and we watch the TV together. For a while he is silent. They keep showing the first bit of film over and over - the bomb goes off, a runner falls and people rush over to the barricades to pull them down to get to the injured people. Over and over... no answers for why - just the same pictures over and over..... "Wow.... that man fell down.... I hope he's ok." Notes The Boy. "Well, he fell down because a big explosion like that is loud, but it can also move the ground - so it probably scared him and knocked him down." I explain. "Yeah.... he gets up again, so he must be ok, huh?" asks The Boy. "Umm... well, sometimes you can be ok, or just have a skinned knee, but going through something like that can leave bruises on your insides - so I'm guessing that man and all the people down there are going to have some ouchies on their insides for a long time.... does that make sense?" I ask. "Kind of.... but not really Mom." he replies. More time passes.... and I decide going to the park is the best option for the day and then.... "You know what Mom.....?" The Boy say's, "Did you notice a lot of people are running away to us [on the screen] - but there are more people who are running to the people who are hurt. The man in the blue shirt is running and the people in the yellow shirts - they are running to help the people where the smog is...." "Umm... yes, yes they are - they are going to go help the people who need it." I say. "Yeah... but what if there's more smog? What if they get hurt, too?" The Boy asks. "Well, sometimes you have to make a choice and put helping other people first, that's what those people are doing." I explain. "Yeah.... someone made a bad choice today - a very bad choice and a lot of other people got hurt because of it.... like that one man doesn't have an arm anymore - Like - how's he going to carry things now?!?!? ..... but then the other people ran over to help......" The Boy states. Wait... he saw a man missing an arm? WTH... how did I miss that? sigh...... "Well, you know what Mom.....?" The Boy tells me, "When I grow up, I want to be the kind of guy who goes to help the people who are hurt.... yup.... I think that's the right decision." Well.... okay then. The days events were appropriately summed up by my eight year old: You can either be the kind of person who makes bad choices and hurts other people. Or You can be the kind of person who runs "into the smog" to help people. Good to know we've raised the latter. And then I was blessed enough to take my children to the park and watch them play - and even when it started raining, I just let them keep playing.... wet butts and soggy shoes were the least of my (very fortunate) First World Problems today....and I sure as sh*t am grateful for them. Obviously my heart, as all our hearts do - go out to Boston... especially the family members of a loyal blog reader who was unable to get into contact with them today. :( My thoughts and prayers are with you guys.
1 Comment
Emma
4/16/2013 05:23:05 am
Your son is very insightful. I too chose to allow my son to watch the news with me and we had similar conversations. In my case I was also searching for any info we could get as a family member ran the marathon. Happy to report she is ok physically, but yes so many people will be hurting on the inside. We can't shelter our children from everything. I would rather be with them to talk about their feelings when they hear about things like this .
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