Dropping my 8th grader off at the buttcrack of dawn this morning:
“Mom, I want to tell you about my dream last night…”
It was about a school shooting.
The shooter even followed him home.
He then asked me if it was possible that he saw the future.
This was absolutely not the conversation I wanted to have at 6am. It’s awful and heart wrenching to think it could be reality. All I could do was tell him to talk to his friends about it. Discuss it. And check back in with people. If he ever thinks or hears a kid might be in trouble and considering, to tell a trusted teacher at school first and foremost.
And then I had to drop him off and watch him walk into the big dark school. (0 period)
Having been through a lock down drill myself, it’s terrifying. I wanted to take him back home with me and keep him safe, but this is now our reality.
I know where my kid’s head is at. I check in with him regularly and see what’s going on, what he’s thinking, how he’s doing. Not all parents do that. I am honest about my son’s mental health. Not all parents are. I am trusting my son to a community knowing not all parents believe in talking to their kids like people. Not all parents are aware of who their kid’s friends are or how they are really feeling about school. Not all parents believe mental illness is an actual thing that needs to be recognized and respected and treated.
THAT is the most terrifying thing. And apparently those are the parents who also own guns.
I have so much compassion and sympathy for parents who have lost children to this new epidemic.
Beyond conversations and dialogue, I have no idea what the answers are… and frankly it’s too early to solve world problems right now.
How did YOUR morning begin?
Sarcasmica 