Look for the Helpers

This Fourth of July weekend, a flash flood caused devastation in Texas. They are still in the process of searching for many people who are missing. There were many casualties and all of their families will be forever changed from this natural disaster.  In difficult times, I often think of this piece of wisdom shared by Mr. Rogers.

This idea gives clear focus when speaking with our children about difficult things they might see on the news or hear about in school.  There are always helpers. There are restaurant owners making meals and donating them to people in need. There are churches that fill their building with donations and get the items to the people impacted.  There are neighbors that check in on each other and people from across the country who donate to the Red Cross to help relief efforts.

A Helpful Idea

I think it makes a lot of sense to introduce your kids to their local first responders.  Our schools facilitated this for us by having the SRO (School Resource Officer) interact with Mikey as much as possible.  In addition to fun things, like doing a puzzle (pictured above), the SRO would ask Mikey his identifying information so he would be used to telling someone in uniform in case he ever got lost. He also got to meet the firefighters and see the truck on a visit to his school. He learned not to be afraid of people in uniform.  

Familiarity may help make a difficult time easier for your child.  They will already know the helpers!