December 14, 2012...one of the most tragic days most people will ever have the displeasure to remember. 20 children...dead, at the hands of someone with serious mental issues.  This is a situation that affects everyone, not just the children that attend the school and their families, not just that community, city, or state, but all of us.  Everyone that has a child, a niece or nephew, brother or sister, friends, or simply a heart.  This was an event that could not have been foreseen by anyone at that school, except for those who were close to the assailant.  This unfortunate incident will leave parents and people doing some serious soul searching and putting things into perspective.  Some people think that homeschooling is the answer, personally I don't agree with that.  Shielding our children from the world will not help them, hiding them from the world is not a good reason for homeschooling.  The world will keep spinning and evolving, sheltering them will probably do more harm than good.  Some people are up in arms about gun control.... My stance on that is people will find a way to get what they want, especially if they are sick in the head and determined.  Laws are not brick walls and anyone can get around them if they are that headstrong about it.  That's not my topic of choice, being that I am not up on the latest gun laws, just my opinion.

  We have to start telling our children about things of this caliber at younger and younger ages.  I had to tell my 6 year old daughter about this incident and I could tell by her face that she was reacting to my demeanor more than my words.  She understood what I said, but not the degree of it.  When I asked her if she had any questions, she had a doozy:  Why did the man kill those 20 kids?  I had to dig deep and really think about this in a way that she would understand.  I explained to her that the man was dealing with certain issues and did not know how to express himself in a healthy way.  I explained to her that the best way to deal with our issues and situations is to talk about them and to make sure that it does not affect those around us negatively.  I did the best I could to try to explain the situation as best I could while applying it to real life.  This is not the parental ups and downs that most parents expect to encounter.  The hardest part about this is knowing that this could happen at anytime, to anyone we love.....