9/11 and a 5 Year Old
How do you explain 9/11 to a 5 year old?
This morning when I walked Michael to school, he noticed that the flag was at half-staff. He asked why they hadn't put it up all the way.
I did my best to explain...
I told him that today was September 11th, and that 7 years ago, before he was born, some very mean people did a very mean thing. Because of what they did, over 3,000 people went to live with Jesus that day.
I told him that the flag was only halfway up because we do that to remember important things and important people. We not only remember all the people who went to live with Jesus that day, but also all the firefighters and police officers who work so hard to keep us safe. And all the military -- the soldiers and sailors -- who work so hard to make sure that mean people can never do something like that again.
At this age, Michael doesn't need to know about terrorists, planes hitting the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, and another crashing in Pennsylvania. He doesn't need to know all the fear that existed that day, especially for those of us who lived so close to the targets. (We were living 4 miles from the Pentagon at the time.) He doesn't need to know that being "mean" isn't when your little brother takes your toy; instead it is when horrible people take thousands of lives.
I wish that Michael and Matthew would never have to learn these things. Unfortunately our world is so imperfect that some day they will.
May God bless all those who lost their lives that day, their families, and all the emergency responders who worked so hard then and now to keep us safe.
This morning when I walked Michael to school, he noticed that the flag was at half-staff. He asked why they hadn't put it up all the way.
I did my best to explain...
I told him that today was September 11th, and that 7 years ago, before he was born, some very mean people did a very mean thing. Because of what they did, over 3,000 people went to live with Jesus that day.
I told him that the flag was only halfway up because we do that to remember important things and important people. We not only remember all the people who went to live with Jesus that day, but also all the firefighters and police officers who work so hard to keep us safe. And all the military -- the soldiers and sailors -- who work so hard to make sure that mean people can never do something like that again.
At this age, Michael doesn't need to know about terrorists, planes hitting the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, and another crashing in Pennsylvania. He doesn't need to know all the fear that existed that day, especially for those of us who lived so close to the targets. (We were living 4 miles from the Pentagon at the time.) He doesn't need to know that being "mean" isn't when your little brother takes your toy; instead it is when horrible people take thousands of lives.
I wish that Michael and Matthew would never have to learn these things. Unfortunately our world is so imperfect that some day they will.
May God bless all those who lost their lives that day, their families, and all the emergency responders who worked so hard then and now to keep us safe.
posted by Susan | 8:50 AM
2 Comments:
You brought back the difficult memories of explaining it to my then 5 year old... I struggled to put it all in terms my kids (4 and 5 at the time) could understand. How can you help them understand what you yourself do not understand? I like how you explained it.
Interesting story on NPR today -- thought of you. Hoping all is well with you and your family. Here is the link I thought might interest you:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94810949
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