Traumatizing My Child
Do you ever feel like you have traumatized your child? Well I try to tell my kids how it is and sometimes I wonder if that is the best way.
A couple of weeks ago Don and I were headed to a Seattle for a weekend trip and while we were packing I couldn't find Mason. He was outside playing in the car. I went out and talked to him about how we can't play in the car because it gets very hot in the car and if he got stuck in the car he would go to sleep and never wake up. Then I just told him he could die. (Granted the windows and a couple of doors were open since we were packing for our trip this day, but I thought it was a good time to bring it up.) A day or two later we got in the car on a hot day, and it was sooo hot in there Mason mentioned how he couldn't really breath and I again talked to him about how that is why we never play in the car because it gets too hot and we could die.
That same weekend we were at the Woodland Park Zoo and a baby elephant had died the weekend before and there was a memorial set up at the zoo. Mason has been asking about the baby elephant that died about every day since our trip. So, death has been on his mind. (He is my tender one)
Then we talked to him about how his favorite cousins grandma was very sick and she died this past Thursday.
Now to the part where I realized that I had traumatized the poor little guy....At church today he was starting to get too loud and was having trouble sitting still and I asked him if he needed to go sit in the car (not even thinking about our ealier conversations). Why would I say that? He looked at me and said "Am I going die?". I will never again ask him if he needs to sit in the car.
