Between Two Worlds<\/a>. The post itself begins:<\/p>\nI volunteered in my daughter Penny\u2019s first grade classroom on Monday. The simple act of pushing the buzzer and entering the brightly lit hallway brought tears to my eyes. This is what a school should be, I thought, a safe, happy, colorful place, where it doesn\u2019t cross kids\u2019 minds to be afraid. We live 20 miles away from Newtown, and Penny\u2019s class consists of 23 six-and seven-year olds. That aching sadness that began in the main hallway persisted in the midst of the rambunctious cheer of her classroom. The students worked to create a wreath out of puzzle pieces in anticipation of the upcoming holiday. And as I supervised gluing and coloring, I hated the thought of the kids who weren\u2019t able to bring home wreaths to their parents this year.<\/p>\n
I had wondered over the weekend if I should talk to Penny about the shooting at Sandy Hook. I didn\u2019t want her to hear the news from her classmates, especially if it might include brutal and frightening details. We kept the television off, which is not unusual for our family, and I turned off the radio whenever the reports headed toward details of the murders. I knew my younger children\u2014ages two and four\u2014probably wouldn\u2019t hear about it from friends, but I still thought I should prepare Penny, even if just a little bit. I finally told her, \u201cSomething sad happened to some children at a school nearby.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face got serious as she asked, \u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
I said, \u201cNo one you know.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was enough for her. Her world consists of people she knows, and if they are safe and happy, then so is she. I told her that if she heard more at school she should talk to a grownup. But when I asked her teachers, they said Friday\u2019s events hadn\u2019t come up in class that day. It was noon by then, and they were confident that they would have heard about it already if it was going to become a topic of conversation. \u201cThese parents did a good job protecting their children,\u201d Penny\u2019s teacher said.<\/p>\n
Keep reading \u201cThe Importance of Teaching Children Kindness at a Very Young Age<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I want goodness to triumph in my children’s lives, and one thing I can do in a proactive way is to teach my children kindness<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[34,571,570,112,568],"class_list":["post-3147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith","category-family","tag-children","tag-kindness","tag-newtown-tragedy","tag-parenting","tag-sandy-hook"],"yoast_head":"\n
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