Yesterday Timmy worked for hours on his hole outside, enlarging it with a frantic dedication. When he asked me if I thought it was big enough for bodies, I made him put down the shovel so that we could talk. I thought he was digging because he likes to dig. It turns out that he was trying to build a nuclear bunker in case the war in Ukraine came to Virginia. My heart sank when I realized the depth of his fears.
He is too young to process everything that is occurring. I have turned off the news and it won't play when he is within earshot. I want him to be a kid and to just have fun. It breaks my heart that he is digging bunkers and drawing photos of us hiding during an attack. He should not have these worries. No child should have these worries!
I don't think that simply disengaging from the news will be enough to calm his anxiety. Instead, I've decided to be a bit more proactive. This weekend I'm going to take Timmy to the store to buy some bottled water, canned foods and other supplies. With his assistance, we are going to transform the crawlspace under our stairs into a safe zone.
I am hoping that he will feel more secure if he knows that he has a place to go should anything happen. I hope he stops digging his own bunker and will move on to more benign activities.
No comments:
Post a Comment