(no subject)
Reading The Librarian of Basra at her request the other night, I asked Natasha, "Do you know where Basra is?" She said no, and I said, "It's in Iraq." And she said, "There's a war there."
I said, "Yes, and that war is being made by the governement of the USA, the country we live in."
When we first started reading this book, N would often ask me, Is War coming here? While I value being honest with my kid, I also realized that it was important that she feel safe, so I would tell her, No. War will not come here. (I'm probably right...) but that didn't sit right, to claim there is no war here when WE (you know, the USA) are the ones who MAKE the war. so in order to not threaten her sense of security, but strive toward a bit more honesty, I began to tell her, war will not be coming here, but this country is the one making the war in these other places. I want her to feel reasonably safe, but I also want her to begin to develop a sense of accountability, and to begin developing a true picture of the world...as she gets older she can contemplate what does it mean that our country makes the war and yet we're the ones who are "safe" (relatively)
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Natasha started to cry. "what is it?" I asked,
"I don't want anyone to get hurt, she sobbed, and then she said, I don't want anyone to get killed!"
I cuddled her and told her, "No, neither do I, we don't want anyone to hurt or be killed."
"I wish there wasn't any war!" she said.
"Me too, I said.
I thought for a minute, as I cuddled her and she cried, and thought about how I have been told, and believe to be true, that if we are going to expose our children to the harsh realities of the world, such as war, racism, poverty, etc, we need to also be continually showing them that these things can change, that we have the power to change them...otherwise we are courting disaster, taking the chance of instilling a strong sense of fatalism and despair in our kids.
So, I said, "That's why we go to demonstrations, and have meetings, and write letters. We work to end the war. That's why you have that sign in your window (she has a "End the War Now" sign in her bedroom window). And you know what?" I told her. "Someday, there will be no more war. We will all work together to make that happen."
"Someday, there will be an end to war."
Oh, please let it be so. I don't expect it in my lifetime, but perhaps in hers????
I said, "Yes, and that war is being made by the governement of the USA, the country we live in."
When we first started reading this book, N would often ask me, Is War coming here? While I value being honest with my kid, I also realized that it was important that she feel safe, so I would tell her, No. War will not come here. (I'm probably right...) but that didn't sit right, to claim there is no war here when WE (you know, the USA) are the ones who MAKE the war. so in order to not threaten her sense of security, but strive toward a bit more honesty, I began to tell her, war will not be coming here, but this country is the one making the war in these other places. I want her to feel reasonably safe, but I also want her to begin to develop a sense of accountability, and to begin developing a true picture of the world...as she gets older she can contemplate what does it mean that our country makes the war and yet we're the ones who are "safe" (relatively)
----
Natasha started to cry. "what is it?" I asked,
"I don't want anyone to get hurt, she sobbed, and then she said, I don't want anyone to get killed!"
I cuddled her and told her, "No, neither do I, we don't want anyone to hurt or be killed."
"I wish there wasn't any war!" she said.
"Me too, I said.
I thought for a minute, as I cuddled her and she cried, and thought about how I have been told, and believe to be true, that if we are going to expose our children to the harsh realities of the world, such as war, racism, poverty, etc, we need to also be continually showing them that these things can change, that we have the power to change them...otherwise we are courting disaster, taking the chance of instilling a strong sense of fatalism and despair in our kids.
So, I said, "That's why we go to demonstrations, and have meetings, and write letters. We work to end the war. That's why you have that sign in your window (she has a "End the War Now" sign in her bedroom window). And you know what?" I told her. "Someday, there will be no more war. We will all work together to make that happen."
"Someday, there will be an end to war."
Oh, please let it be so. I don't expect it in my lifetime, but perhaps in hers????