Explanations and surprise

The day started with me in the kitchen making pancakes while everyone played on the Wii fit plus.  Everyone loves to play.  Around 11 AM we finally decided to get dressed and go out.  We had to do some final friend shopping so we headed to Lakeshore.

As we were driving, Andrew and Cairn noticed that the flag was at half staff.  They, of course, asked why and I said, "there was a tragedy on Friday and they are flying it at half staff in their memory."  Nobody asked another question and I thought to myself, "got out of that one easy."

Looked around Lakeshore for an hour before I noticed the time and we had to get home to pick up Skylar for the birthday party.

The party was great.  Andrew fell asleep on my lap for the first hour so I got to sit and talk to some friends while the party planner did all the work.  It was great!

After the birthday party, we were driving home and since Skylar was with us this time, she asked why the flags were at half staff.  So I repeated what I said earlier but Skylar asked the next question, "what tragedy?"

**Explanation time - as all parents do, we tell our kids little white lies - "I don't know what happened to that last piece of pie. I will call the Tooth Fairy to come visit you tonight. The show must have been cancelled, etc. etc"  Lately, I have noticed that Cairn is telling more and more lies.  At first, I was very upset - I wasn't raising her that way but then I realized they were her idea of white lies.  How could I be upset with her white lies when I was modeling the exact behavior?  So I have been working on not telling white lies to the kids which has been very difficult at this time of year with 2 kids that still believe in Santa.

To answer Skylar's question, I struggle - I want to tell her the truth but only enough that she can handle.

Me - Several people were killed

Cairn - where did they live?

Me - Connecticut

Skylar - where were they?

Me - at a school

Skylar - what kind of people?

Me - (deep breath) some kids and teachers and the principal

Skylar - who did that?  what was his name?

Me - a bad man named Adam.

Then we were off on the topic of who do we know that has the name Adam or Andrew.  The instant we stepped out of the car, Skylar starts telling Dad why the flags are at half staff and what happened on Friday.  He looks at me like I have gone mad and asks Skylar, "where did you hear about that?"  I spoke up and said I told her.

This was difficult for me today.

Tonight we played more Wii and Skyped with Uncle Mait.  The big surprise is that he is coming to spend Christmas with us!!!  He arrives on the 24th.  The kids are so excited I had trouble getting them to bed without a million jillion questions.