Really enjoying your sparse, clear pieces, Jill. This piece captures that feeling that existed/exists in so much of parenting, for me--that we're really role-playing a part we're unprepared for. And we care so deeply about the consequences. But the clarity of our intentions alone somehow makes us equal to the task. Death is a big one. Well done, and beautifully written.
We have no choice but to do it, right? I always struggle with gray areas, because kids want black and white answers. Like my daughter wanted to know if we would ever have a tornado. In this part of the country, unlikely, but not impossible. So, I want to tell her no, and it will most likely be true, but what if? She is starting to understand "probably," which helps!
Unrelated, but long ago our son had questions about Santa, and we had told him that bad kids got coal, because that's what we were told. Didn't really think about how our little guy had no idea what coal was. Eventually he learned that coal is a little black rock that's flammable, and he made the logical leap that Santa set bad kids on fire. When we finally figured out that he believed this we immediately began de-programming, but Jesus. Helluva ride.
What a gift, each of these missives every month <3
Oh thank you ❤️❤️❤️ so appreciate you
Really enjoying your sparse, clear pieces, Jill. This piece captures that feeling that existed/exists in so much of parenting, for me--that we're really role-playing a part we're unprepared for. And we care so deeply about the consequences. But the clarity of our intentions alone somehow makes us equal to the task. Death is a big one. Well done, and beautifully written.
We have no choice but to do it, right? I always struggle with gray areas, because kids want black and white answers. Like my daughter wanted to know if we would ever have a tornado. In this part of the country, unlikely, but not impossible. So, I want to tell her no, and it will most likely be true, but what if? She is starting to understand "probably," which helps!
Thank you as always for reading ❤️
Unrelated, but long ago our son had questions about Santa, and we had told him that bad kids got coal, because that's what we were told. Didn't really think about how our little guy had no idea what coal was. Eventually he learned that coal is a little black rock that's flammable, and he made the logical leap that Santa set bad kids on fire. When we finally figured out that he believed this we immediately began de-programming, but Jesus. Helluva ride.
Oh my god I'm already anticipating things like this--we can never really know how they're understanding what we tell them.