On heart-warming stories...

I have this habit of discussing current news and stories with my kids. Although they're only 6 and 8, they get the gist of the issues pretty fast. Oftentimes though, passing judgment and conclusion to a story or news is not as easy as it might seem, involving alot of gray areas and ambiguity that young kids might not be able to appreciate. So, I pick more discrete black-and-white issues for discussions, and leave the others till they're older.

News have mostly doom-and-gloom. I didn't realize it until one time, after we discussed about a bad cop news story. My kids asked me, "why are you always reading sad stories, mom?" I was taken aback. I had not realized that those were mostly what I read, and they're right. Perhaps that has alot to do with why I'm more suspicious to human nature these days, and prefer to err on the wrong side (eg. not allowing my kids to be alone with so-and-so, because you don't want to find out some years later that this so-and-so relative had abused your kid when you left them alone). These days, I try to find a balance; though I must say, it's not easy.

Recently, there're a couple of readings, which are rather uplifting. One is about how a boy found his inspiration to become a writer later; the other is about the "Oxford Project" that follows 100 people in small-town Oxford, Iowa, and their life stories. Sometimes, our lives are moved and touched seismically by seemingly small things and incidents. I know I have a few, although I try to be more forward-looking these days for my kids. Perhaps, when I get older and slow down in my life, I'll come to more fully appreciate and revisit those incidents in my own life. For now, the future are the kids', and I'm trying not to miss it. :)