Robbers Robbers Everywhere

Yesterday afternoon, I was driving my kiddos home from the birthday party and Build-A-Bear extravaganza that was our Sunday.  My 5 year old boy asked me from the back seat, "Mom, are there any robbers around here?"  I hesitated a split second before answering that yes, there were robbers everywhere.  I felt kind of torn about whether I should answer that way, because part of me wants him to always feel safe and secure and not have to worry about things like that.  But that's not real life. 

So instead, I explained why there are robbers everywhere, along with the situations that people sometimes find themselves in that leads to "taking other peoples' stuff".  I tried to keep it on a 5 year old level, but I wanted to drive home the point that life isn't about the stuff that can be stolen by robbers.  Most of the time, stuff is replaceable.  I wanted him to make the distinction between the value of stuff and the value of people - his friends, family, etc.  I think I got through to him, although I'm not sure.  He did say that he wasn't afraid of robbers (which is good), and asked a few questions that made me think that he at least understood what I was going for, but it was still hard to tell.

There are a lot of lessons that I want to teach my kiddos, although I know that no matter how hard I try, they are going to have to learn many of them for themselves as they get older.  There's no other way to do it - there is no way to shield your child from the pain and stress they are going to encounter as they wrestle with life.  I feel like I'm just here to create the foundation on which they will build - or maybe I'm creating the filing system they will use to organize the lessons they learn.  I want them to be able to think for themselves and reason through things, rather than making decisions based on fear or laziness or "going with the crowd just because".  I also want to instill in them a slowness to judgment and conclusions, because few things remain simple as you get older.  Every story has another side to it, and it's very rare that you really understand both sides.  But if I can give them the ability to make good decisions, the tools they need to think critically before they act, then I'll feel like I've at least given them a solid starting point.