I can't even. those kids. those families.
post-pickup update : so picking up my own kids from school and preschool today, it was totally normal; they clearly have no idea, and they just bounced right into the car, without a care in the world except how to share a candy cane evenly.
I did not have the news on. Now I've got to figure out how to talk about it if, or rather, when, we do.
a couple of days later update: so yeah, we mentioned it briefly on friday night, at dinner, and that was it. Nothing more since.
One piece of advice we remind each other of at every tantrum is "Don't get on the rollercoaster." Just because a kid is freaking out over some random thing, as the adult in the room, we should be able to see that it's not worth freaking out over, and thus, we stay calm, defuse by refusing to escalate.
And now I see that there can be value in the flipside: just because something's freaking you the hell out, you don't need to drag your children along for the ride. Children really should not have to worry about assault weapons and mass murders, and about teachers being gunned down outside the closet door. Or about attending 20 funerals. They are kids.
