What Next?
In the wake of a COVID-canceled work trip that left open time on my calendar, yesterday I invited Vi to a "doodle date" after school. As we were having a snack, out of the blue she asked whether there would be a lockdown drill before the end of the year. I said I had no idea, but that it seemed unlikely if they hadn't had one yet. We talked about past drills and I asked her how she felt about them. She said, "mostly squished." The reality of why a lockdown would be necessary clearly was not top of mind.
We enjoyed a lovely afternoon and then I needed to get dinner together. I checked my phone, saw the news about the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas and proceeded to struggle my way through the night, including attending an awards ceremony at the high school.
I often talk about what seems like the essence of human experience -- the continual act of carrying pain and joy simultaneously. This is it. I don't have all of the "right" words right now, so I will just share some suggestions that are top of mind.
1) Support Everytown for Gun Safety + text "ACT" to 644-33 to join the action pipeline to end gun violence.
2) Listen to The Daily's episode "Another Elementary School Massacre." It's a harrowing, necessary listen, and I think now more than ever given where we are with social media, that we need to be ready to speak up against misinformation that is sure to unfold.
3) Get ready to vote this fall. Help others register to vote, especially think of the new wave of teens who will be 18 by the midterms. Read this post by @designmom on IG (https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd-rt0VM2Dp/). It will make you want to help GOTV.
4) Read Katie Hurley, LCSW's post on IG (https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd9TRpKvpm-/) re: helping kids process tragic news -- the caption includes details about the toplines in the graphic.
5) Reach out to your kid's teacher with words of care and support. Don't ask them what they are doing to solve this problem and keep your kids safe. They most certainly already know they are the first line of defense for your children.
6) Tune into something nurturing. Do whatever you can to care for yourself and your frazzled nervous system. I intentionally did not clean up Violet and my doodling station yesterday so I can lean into it later today with her.