Dear Babies: When the World Becomes a Scary Place

Dear Babies,

It happened again today.

Try as I may to keep it hidden from you so you can continue to live in the childhood utopia of innocence, one of life’s ugliest truths continues to rear it’s grisly head and force its way into our lives. So here it goes…

Sometimes the world can be a scary place.

From the small things that scare us – like the monster under your bed or the shadows of a dark room – to the big things we cannot explain or control, it seems we have an endless list of things that can frighten us from ever being able to stand in the light.

You continue to amaze me with your strength and courage each time life wanted to make the world a scary place for you. But today was different. It wasn’t an unforeseen illness or natural disaster you were trying to cope with and understand. It was one person filled with such anger that he took the lives of so many. I saw the confusion in your eyes as you struggled to understand what sort of hate exists in the world that can translate to such evil. For the first time, I could not explain the inexplicable to you.

I cannot reason away how someone could be filled with such hate that they would hurt their fellow man. I cannot make sense of the evil that must have gripped his heart as he took the lives of so many. I cannot even begin to imagine the pain he has caused the families of the victims in the Las Vegas shooting.

But there are a few things I do know.

I’ll share another one of life’s truths, and it’s one every parent knows: you, our sweet children, are the light.

Hate cannot exist in a world filled with love. Pain cannot exist in a world filled with peace. Fear cannot survive in a world full of hope.

The world is filled with both of darkness and light, and it’s up to us to stand courageously in the light and bring hope and peace and love to those that are lost in the darkness.

And here is the last secret I will share with you: you are our future.

And it is up to every parent to make sure that future is as bright and as filled with love as you. To lead by example and promote peace in times of suffering, share kindness in times of pain, to show compassion where there is hate. To show courage in the face of evil.

Yes, sometimes the world can be a scary place.

But together, we can make it a little brighter.

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