SO: How do you tell your kids about crimes?

[feroxfemina]

Especially as something as heinous as Caylee's story?

I was crying over the video and my oldest came up to me and started stroking my arm, and asked me what was wrong as she watched the video (she couldn't hear). I don't know how to tell her?

Just, "Her mommy did a bad thing and now a lot of people miss her"? I don't want to upset her, and I don't want her over active imagination to... you know, over-react.

[jessiehannan]

that is how I would have done it. WHen DD asks why some one did the bad thing, I just tell her that I don't know, and we probably won't ever know.

[Crabbie]

I don't tell her much at her age, I do how you did, tell as little as possible with out the horrid details.

[Teresa64]

I tell ds1 if he asks that there are some bad people in the world and when they aren't nice or break the rules the police take care of it because that is what they are for. Thats about as much as he understands at this point.

[Iconoclast]

I don't. My children don't watch TV and they only read a newspaper that doesn't cover that kind of "news."

[QuiltyConscience]

I wouldn't say anything about her mommy doing a bad thing, and now people miss her. A little kid could be really frightened by that. She has no idea what a "bad thing" is, or where the little girl is that people miss her. Too much room for imagination to run wild and be scary.

The less said the better. really young kids just don't need to hear about stuff like this. If anything needs to be said just, "This was a sad story, how about we find a happy story" and do something else.