I broke my own rule!!!

I always caution parents about “little ears that hear everything” so that they’ll tailor their conversations while the little guys are around. My favorite example is an incident that I remember from my oldest son’s preschool days. There had been a tragic accident the night before in which 2 teenagers had been killed in an auto crash. Several of the moms were discussing this at pick up time, thinking their little ones were busy playing and wouldn’t hear their words. Wrongo! My child got in the car and asked about the “dead kids in the car” and wondered “what if we have a crash?” Oh my! I was so shocked since I wasn’t even standing in the group of moms who were talking. Stanton and I were playing nearby but I had no idea he was listening.

Well, I blew it yesterday! We had a bit of excitement in our neighborhood and I didn’t handle it well at all. As I left to pick up the boys from school, I noticed two helicopters flying very low around our houses and then saw at least six police cars speeding into our subdivision. All seemed clear when we got back home, so the boys piled their stuff on the table and zoomed outside to play. My neighbor called and told me to get the boys inside and lock the doors! She had just gotten an email alert that the police were searching for a “suspect” in our area. Eeeeps! I called the boys in and said, “Hurry guys! The police said to get inside. There’s a robber out there!”

I said what?! To my 3 and 8 year old children?

I’m firing myself as parent coach deluxe for that little slip. Seriously, I should have taken a breath, quickly ushered them inside with the promise of a video or cookie and then explained that we needed to be inside for the afternoon because I had a great new game to teach them or a story to read.

I could have explained the situation to my 8 year old in an age-appropriate manner a little later in the day….

Ok, so there it is. I promise to do better next time. I know you’ll be watching!