As we have previously established, I am not a helicopter parent. In general my kids are the "bad influence" to be avoided--not because they are bad kids, but because we are trying to teach them to deal with difficult situations rather than overprotect them so that they never encounter a difficult situation. But yesterday was different. The sky was dark and moody, and then the tornado warning came on the radio. A mere 30 minutes before school was to be dismissed.
What do you do when you can't get to your kids in an emergency? I KNEW they were safe, but my heart was breaking that I couldn't be there to calm them and to hold them, and yes, to throw my body in front of the danger if it meant they could be spared.
The land our house sits on was cleared by a tornado nearly a decade ago. Many, many homes in the adjacent neighborhood were severely damaged. The gully behind my house faces west-the direction of our approaching weather. It's a funnel sluice.
The school system called multiple times to tell us that our children were in interior hallways, and that school dismissal would be delayed until the tornado warning was over. What they didn't say is that our children were face-down on the linoleum, on their knees with arms clenched over their heads, without water or bathroom breaks, or even talking, for 90 minutes. We were encouraged NOT to drive to school, but the children of parents who did drive to school were released.
I'm glad the school personnel took steps to protect our children, but when Thing 1 told me how uncomfortable he was, and then Thing 2 told me that he cried through the "drill", I was heartbroken...because we can't protect our kids, and we can't take all their lumps for them. And we can't serve as their human shields, even though we are willing.
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