Thoughts on a Tragedy and The Sunday Parenting Party

Today is The Sunday Parenting Party, but I’m not going to be featuring my favorite posts.  Instead I share with you my thoughts.  The party is open this week, so please still link up your parenting posts.

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Today I’m sad.  I’m not just a little blue, I’m distraught.  I can not believe that one man can be so cruel to kill so many innocent children in this week’s tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut.  Being a parent myself, I can not imagine the grief those parents must be going through.

I live far away from Newtown, but I feel their pain. I felt the fear and anxiety that the parents and loved ones must have felt while searching for their children and wondering if they were safe. I cried at the joy of seeing parents walk away with their unharmed children.  I wept for the families who lost their sweet babies.

I cried for the children who feared for their lives and those who lost their friends and teachers.  I cried for the teachers and other school administrators who tried to protect the students that they love and nurture every day.

Being a children’s mental health professional who worked with trauma victims, I know the deep scars a tragedy like this can leave.  Those inside the school, the parents, families, first responders, the surrounding community, and even those us who watch from a distance on our television screens have scars left behind from this event.  A tragedy like this impacts us all.  Make sure to talk about it if you need to and ask for help if you need it.  Please take care of yourselves, hug your children, and turn off the news coverage. 

There are few words that can help in times like these, but this quote from Mister Rogers helps me see the good in such evil.


Thank you to all the “helpers”.

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The Sunday Parenting Party is open, so please join along by sharing your favorite parenting post, and please read the other posts linked up.

*Due to the upcoming Holiday’s, The Sunday Parenting Party will not run on December 23rd or 30th.  We’ll be back after the New Year!*

1. Any parenting post is welcome. Humorous, helpful, inspiring, or a tear-jerker, they are all welcome. Please do not add activity posts...those can go over here at The Kid's Co-Op

2. Please grab a button (on my sidebar) and add it to your post so that others know about the party too.

3. We have a great Pinterest board that we share many of posts linked up. I also have a Parenting Help board that has tons of posts (and followers) that your post my pop up on.

4. By linking up you agree that the co-hosts of the party may use one picture from your post as a feature.

5. Try to take the time to check out the other posts linked up!