That's what my five-year-old daughter said as her daddy was rushing us to the basement on Monday night. She then burst into tears from fear.
Jennifer, our resident parenting professional, blogged that we shouldn't pretend to not be scared around our kids. That we need to reassure them that we're scared too and that their fear isn't silly. *sigh* I acted the complete opposite...In a way. I gave my husband the "look" and reassured our daughter that we would be fine, but that with the storm we needed to go down to the basement. That calmed her down.
Of course, I had no idea what the weather would bring us, but I kept reassuring her that we would all be fine as I grabbed the laptop, mobile phone and the daschaund. The chance of a tornado was real, we heard the sirens and I know that the theory that tornados don't happen in the city is a load of poop. So why did I lie to her like that? Because I think that's what we need to do sometimes.
Just like when I tell her that "I'll always come home." I know that's a lie. I can't and shouldn't promise that, but I can't help it. I know that just backing out of her pre-school lot is like playing Russian roulette with the lack of courtesy that Chicago drivers offer.
She was still shaking when we got down to the basement, but I flipped open the laptop and headed over to Noggin.com. We watched a few videos and then I checked the weather on the Trib's site. Things looked clear on the satellite and the tornado warning had passed. Whew! Another lie grew into the truth. Safe.
For now.
When Veronica isn't lying to her daughter she blogs at Viva La Feminista, WIMN's Voices, and Work it, Mom! You can also follow Veronica at Twitter.
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