Reply to How do you tell a child they life they knew is over?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Our girls spent the first  5 years of their lives with us on assignments abroad in the developing world. They understood about washing food and not eating street food, hand washing,  hand sanitizer, etc. Didn't see their grandparents much. Hid in the safe room during the riots. They're fine.

Foreign service families talk about raising resilient kids who are adaptable and flexible.  It is seen as an opportunity to develop kids with these stre7. Your kids aren't fragile. They're not made of glass.[/quote]

Strange to compare something voluntary to something...not. [/quote]

NP here. I find the analogy pretty good, actually. Even though foreign service families choose that life, it's a reminder that there are many different ways to live life and that the loss of a specific kind of UMC white, suburban lifestyle is not the end of the world.

I have a close friend and a sister-in-law who both spent their early childhood in the Peacecorp with their parents and those experiences were very positive and formative for them. They have greater empathy and sense of civic responsibility than the average person. I would love to instill those same things in my kids. I wouldn't say that covid is an opportunity -- the thousands who have died and the families that miss them are not a learning opportunity anymore than poverty in a foreign country is. But that doesn't mean the virus doesn't have things to teach us. Hardship can be useful.[/quote]

We are not UMC (DH is military) so that comparison doesn't hold water - we're hardly coddled, and we know about resilience. I realize everyone in DC thinks DD is on a fast-track to fascism because of this, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have a sense of civic responsibility. And right now she just wants to know when she can see the family and friends she loves. [/quote]

And saying "well you will NEVER see them again" isnt the appropriate answer.   We also live in a ruralish area but cases have gone way down so DS is engaging in some of this normal activities again (camp 2 days a week and jiu jitsu 4 days a week).  But for the past few months whenever he asks the answer has always been "we don't know when those things will come back" and explained why we don't know and how that determination may be made.   Acting like her life is over and she will never get to do any of those things is completely selfish on your part.  Don't let your anxiety control the narrative.  I think it's best that your husband handles the conversations, since at least he seems to be more rational.  [/quote]

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