Sure enough, her eyes turned red and her bottom lip puckered while reading The Bear Feels Scared the other night even though we've read it a hundred times before. She always takes it hard when the bear gets lost in the woods.
When we were finished reading, she buried her face in me, and we talked about how the bear's friends find him in the end. I thought it might be a good opportunity to discuss what to do if she ever gets lost.
Even though I tried to approach the subject as gently as possible, and heavily stressed that Mumma and Dada will always find her, I ended up completely freaking her out.
She turned away from me, and I could see that she was trying not to cry. I changed the subject, rubbed her back, but it was too late. She erupted into sobs. I held her for a long time assuring her she was safe, convincing her that Mumma wasn't going to lose her, and eventually, she calmed down and went to sleep.
Madeline is still very young, but I feel it's important for her to start to learn about protecting herself. The rub is that while I want her to be cautious, I also don't want to raise her to believe she has to be afraid of everything in the world. How do I keep her safe and maintain her innocence?
It's something I've been thinking about a lot recently. (Pregnancy anxiety, perhaps.) It's a tricky business, this parenting thing.
If I were Atticus Finch I'd know just what to say to my child to help her understand both the ugliness and the grace of society, but sadly, I'm at a loss.
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