Thanks for this powerful post about what must have been a terrifying dream. I can see why it is sticking with you, echoing issues and stories you wrestle with when you’re awake. It is helpful for me to read about how you puzzle through the parenting aspects of watching and processing violent news about our unstable world. I’ve got little ears hovering around the television while my wife and I watch and discuss the primaries here in the US. The conversations with my 6 and 10 year old daughters when they pepper me with questions are awkward, surreal and leave me with self doubt every time.
You say you need to stop watching the news when the children can hear and that same sentiment nags at me. How do we turn it off, translate it, contextualize it?