Yesterday started with notification that our homeschool co-op was cancelled due to what was going on in southern Maine. My kids shifted between being confused, angry and wondering if everything was going to be closed forever. The rose of the unexpected start was that other friends were in the same boat, so we were oceanbound with friends. The thorn from one of my kids was there was fear that the killer would shoot us while walking along the beach. How is this the world we live in now?! Thankfully, I asserted that people who do heinous crimes are cowards who enter buildings and they aren't walking the coast identifying at the various species of ducks.
The other unexpected was allllll those apples I was going to take to co-op ended up at my house. We ended up being an apple pickup zone and the apples all have homes in treats and in bellies now, thankfully!
Before bed, I learned that the suspect at large was located not alive, thus not a threat. While all of Maine exhaled a relieved sigh, there are so many pieces to pick up, things will never be the same. In our farmhouse, the horrific events were probably brought up a dozen times this morning. Such small apple problems compared to what some are experiencing. A negative impact to varying degrees widespread. And so, what do we do as caregivers to these wee ones who have questions we do not understand and cannot answer? We do the same thing we always do. We reassure and reassure. We make food. We go outside. We read aloud. We give hugs and be the steady constant they need to calm their minds.
