The media stories were sad and real. Loss of life on such a large scale. Devastation on mass.
We decided to bring up the subject at dinner that evening and raise the kids awareness on the subject. The oldest had heard about this "terrible storm" on the radio. The youngest was hearing it for the first time.
They were both deeply affected by the story and their brainstorming on how to help the families was heartwarming and creative.
They had many questions and the conversation was rich. For once, we were having only one discusison.
The children decided, as a family we should take two actions.
The first: To contact people we knew who had Philippine connections (they remarkably knew some people that we hadn't realised / or forgotten who had Philippine relations). We agreed that we would email them and ask them how they were and how their relatives were doing. Importantly, we would ask if we could do anything to help.
The second: Each of our family members would donate a sum of money they felt they could afford. We agreed that it would be everyone's choice and whatever they felt they could offer would be wonderful. Each child offered generously from their piggybanks.
The conversation that evening was rich. Maybe richer than it had ever been. The children were concerned and deeply affected. They were eager to learn more about the disaster and how they could help.
They came up with the solutions and I felt proud so proud to be their parents.
It's hard to discuss difficult subjects as a family, and it's challenging to know when is the right time and at what level of detail is appropriate, but what I learned tonight is that the only wrong solution, is to shy away from the subject. The kids seemed to provide the direction and the depth on what they needed to know. We just had to provide the start.
Any of you got any tips?
This is amazing! Thanks for sharing this...
ReplyDeleteI want to discuss current events more in our family and this post inspired me alot
Lk