Guest commentary by Sarah Iliff McGill
Jan. 6 — 1:00 p.m. I tell my two children ages 6 and 4 that they can’t have a cookie; if they are still hungry, they should eat an apple.
1:47 p.m. My husband texts: “Pro-Trump protesters have broken through the Capitol police lines and invaded the Capitol building itself and shut down the proceedings there.”
1:53 p.m. I am trying to assemble the new air hockey toy my children got for Christmas and see the text.
2:04 p.m. I have locked myself in the bathroom to read the news I can find on my phone while my children beg me to come out and play the promised air hockey game. “Something big is happening and mommy needs to read a few messages,” I say through the door.
2:08 p.m. I give the kids the cookies so I can keep reading.
2:12 p.m. I play air hockey.
3:30 p.m. I talk to my kids about the Capitol for the first time. We make popcorn. First, I explain that we are safe. I tell them what Mr. Rogers taught: When we see scary things in the news, look for the helpers; there are always people helping. So we attempt to “look for the helpers” and we brainstorm who the helpers could be: the police, people following the rules and the people telling others about it. We talk about ways to respond, with prayer and doing something to make the world better.
3:43 p.m. We clean up spilled popcorn.
3:56 p.m. We look for our prayer candle and matches. I look. The children run in circles.
4:20 p.m. I tie my daughter’s hair back and light a candle as we pray: “Dear God, help our country. Help us to find justice and peace and to follow you. Amen.” We debate who gets to blow out the candle first. We all do it together the first time.
6:45 p.m. I ask my children if they want to learn more about the things that have been happening. My daughter (age 4) shakes her head and runs away. She is still angry about something. Maybe the flavor toothpaste we have? My son is very curious. We turn on the TV and I try to explain calmly what is happening. In the middle of this my husband takes over so I can go put our daughter to sleep. I come back and my son wants to know what “justice” means. We talk a little bit more, but say it’s time for bed and that we can talk more tomorrow.
Jan 7 — 9:17 a.m. We watch a video about justice.
10:00 a.m.-ish I get a couple texts and messages from fellow pastors and friends on how to talk to their kids about the news. I try to write a Facebook post about talking to kids. I leave out the crying, mess, popcorn, air hockey and many other pieces.
Jan. 8 — 8:19 a.m. The Outlook invites me to write a piece on parenting in the midst of current events.
Jan. 8-Jan. 10. More parenting in the midst of current events.
Jan. 10 — 8:18 p.m. The kids are in bed. I finally begin writing about parenting in the midst of current events.
Jan. 10 — 10:11 p.m. I start listing all the things that happened between Jan. 8-Jan. 10 that make me miss the deadline to turn in the article for Outlook.
Jan 10 — 10:42 p.m. Go over word limit by 6,000. Delete details.
Jan 10 — 11:01 p.m. I show this article to my husband to make him laugh.
Jan. 10 — 11:25 p.m. I send this the Outlook to make them laugh… and maybe you too. Give yourself grace, you can do it.
Sarah Iliff McGill is a PC(USA) pastor and full-time mom. She lives in Rochester, Illinois.
Read the article Sarah Iliff McGill wrote during this experience.
