I've always made it a policy to be truthful with my 5 1/2-yo DD. Otherwise, how can I expect her to be honest with me? I may fib when asked my opinion about an outfit she's picked out, but you know what I mean. 
But I recently just totally lied to her, and I'm feeling a little guilty about it. We were driving in really bad traffic, so I turned on the news radio station to hear the traffic report. Instead, they were talking about a recent school shooting. I dove for the volume, but she'd already picked out the words, "gunman" and "school shooting." She asked me about it in a very fearful tone of voice. I said, "Oh honey, they're just talking about a movie or something. Don't worry." See, a flat-out lie?
I'd do it over again, too. We had to do family counseling a couple years ago, because she had bad anxiety. She still has a couple of phobias, is still anxious, highly sensitive, and at that time, had only been in elementary school a couple of weeks. There's no reason for a child with that history to have to worry about their physical safety at school.
But still, I hope this doesn't come back to bite me in the butt when she does eventually hear about school shootings, hopefully many many years from now.
What would you'all have done in that situation? Do your children ever ask you about school safety, and are they aware of the news?
But I recently just totally lied to her, and I'm feeling a little guilty about it. We were driving in really bad traffic, so I turned on the news radio station to hear the traffic report. Instead, they were talking about a recent school shooting. I dove for the volume, but she'd already picked out the words, "gunman" and "school shooting." She asked me about it in a very fearful tone of voice. I said, "Oh honey, they're just talking about a movie or something. Don't worry." See, a flat-out lie?
I'd do it over again, too. We had to do family counseling a couple years ago, because she had bad anxiety. She still has a couple of phobias, is still anxious, highly sensitive, and at that time, had only been in elementary school a couple of weeks. There's no reason for a child with that history to have to worry about their physical safety at school.
But still, I hope this doesn't come back to bite me in the butt when she does eventually hear about school shootings, hopefully many many years from now.
What would you'all have done in that situation? Do your children ever ask you about school safety, and are they aware of the news?
I knew if I hesitated, she would realize it was true and be scared to death.
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