Torn

Sunday late morning we received an email.  I had been handling the school shooting fairly well up until then, especially given the limited access I had (since we didn't want Luke exposed at all).  The email was from the head of school stating they would be talking about Friday's event in class on Monday morning in a vague age appropriate way.  I panicked, literally on the verge of tears, panicked.  I don't want to be the way overprotective mom but it just feels too soon, he's so young.  No child should have to find out about such tragedies at the age of 6.  I trust his teacher and head of school but I don't want Luke coming home with questions that I either don't want to answer or can't answer honestly without scaring the crap out of him.

In the end, it all worked out of course.  His teacher said that something sad had happened and that if kids had questions or wanted to talk about it they should go to a grown up and please not talk to other kids who may not know anything about it or may not want to talk about it.  They moved on.  Luke had no questions after school and was as happy as ever.  Christmas is coming after all.

The balance between wanting to protect and shelter him is so strong but I also know he needs to learn life isn't fair, sometimes you lose (and it's not the end of the world), and sometimes the bad guys do damage before the good guys can stop him.  It's just feels too soon..