December 21, 2012
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Silence
At the beginning of the moment of silence honoring Newtown Elementary today, I was in the middle of sorting the orange Skittles out of a bag to use as penguin feet. I was in our son’s 3rd grade classroom, running a station at a winter party. We were making penguins out of Oreos and candy.
When the principal announced the moment of silence, my heart sank and tears started to fill my eyes. The kids were quiet – but they were kids. Their faces gave away the silly thoughts in their heads. One boy “froze” in a penguin pose. They all looked around the room with seasonally appropriate sparkle in their eyes.
They helped remind me that we all need to go on and allow the kids to be kids. That’s the only way. They need to feel safe and loved by having nothing to worry about except which moms will show up with frosting and sprinkles.
When it was over, several kids commented on how quiet it had been. “Almost too quiet,” said one smart little boy.
Sure enough, the silence ended with a more typical eruption of kid chaos. A balloon was being hit around the room, a game of Dreidel brought cheers, and sugary penguins made for excited kids at my table.
The adults in this country need to step up and prevent another tragedy like what happened in CT last week. We need to take stock of what’s important and get to the root cause. The answer is not more guns. It can’t be.
Every child deserves the best possible chance at peace and happiness. They’re counting on us to give it to them, along with a sugary frosted cookie.
Comments (3)
Sadly, *someone* forgot to make the cupcakes.
@transvestite_rabbit - So true. Letting kids down metaphorically. And for real.
My parents sheltered my sisters and me growing up. It was a gift that I took for granted and even resented when younger. Now I am grateful for the freedom to be a child that my parents gave me. I never knew hunger, want, poverty, or fear. War and crime and the tragedy of violence didn’t enter my life until I was a teen – I was blissfully unaware… The children of Newtown Elem. have had thosse things crash over them. Along with mourning the loss of life, we should also mourn the loss of innocence and childhood of the survivors….