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Telling the Kids the Truth or Now Stop Talking

"I get it, your a badass."
And I shut up.
I'd just been through a minor ordeal with a strangers child and got pretty excitable about it. And then I kept going, like I tend to.
Man, I love this guy for shutting me up right then.

So, it's important (or more importanter) to look at why the lesson was there. That's the part I started to understand when I'd "kept going" but I should have internalized the experience, as I eventually did, and I'd have come out with an awesome message to share. Now I have two, but.....

Be honest with kids.
Like, really.
Stay age appropriate in your choice of words, timing and tone but be honest with them.

If there's a kid that's upset that age accounts for all, talk to them about that. Don't patronize them and try to pretend it's something else. Ageism sucks and I have to agree with them. However, regardless of stance, children embody what we are all supposed to look up to, right? Their purity, their dedication to their own life. It's a beautiful thing and one that most of this world's religions teaches is the epitome of Heaven. And.. Here I go again.


Be honest and tell them what's actually going on in a way they can comprehend. For example, I had a little brother that came to see my baby when I'd had her in 1999. Alyssa was almost three months early, however, so the nurses had a policy not to let my brother in. He was too young, health and other factors had no play so he'd flown from Utah to see his first niece and couldn't. Right then is the time to explain the reality behind those doors. In a non-scary but realistic way. Some of those little ones barely hit two pounds and having met up with one of the NICU moms and her little one later, I can say, any illness was not an option. This is a place to determine what you believe about those things and also to know that people that work there aren't in a position to make decisions anymore. We have policies now.

Explaining these things helps not only to educate and comfort a child who has no clue what is going on most of the time for lack of experiences and a developed thought process, but it also helps to shape the new generations in actuality. Reality. And if the reality is hard to look at, talk about, explain or watch play out... Well then, we need to fix some things.

I'm doing my best and feel like an ant on the top of these awesome Rocky Mountains. In the winter. With few resources for my family and others who need them.







I'm honest with the kids because it helps them but in the end, I have a feeling they will be the ones to light us a fire.

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