Watching my niece play while oblivious to what is happening in Boston right now.I miss being a kid sometimes.
— Michael Litzner (@Litzner) April 15, 2013
Above is what I tweeted regarding the explosions during the Boston Marathon yesterday. My niece was playing on the floor with her toys not paying attention to anything else. She doesn't watch the television unless there are cartoons on...or I'm trying to watch a sporting event. So it was great that she was not paying attention so we did not have to talk to her about it. How do you explain what is happening when a bomb goes off to a four year old? Is there a way to explain it? I don't think there is. Not unless you want to shatter their illusion of a safe world. When my nephew came in he started asking what had happened. He is old enough to watch something happening on the TV and figure some stuff out. So he started asking questions and we answered the questions the best we could without many details.
I now have three nieces and one nephew who all were born into the post 9/11 world. They will never know what it was like to not have to take your shoes off at the airport or living without a color coded fear spectrum. They will always have to travel with three ounces of shampoo and conditioner and nothing more. They will have to deal with these fears and stresses until something more monumental happens (be it for better or worse). I don't know if they will understand what it was like. They will read about the events in their history books, but might not be able to fully grasp the situation. It is along the same lines as someone my age reading or watching the events of Pearl Harbor. Sure, I have seen the video of the attack, I have read the first hand account, I have listened to Franklin Roosevelt's speech, but I do not know the instant feelings and reaction.
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