“Will G-d punish me?” My son asked after admitting he had lied to me earlier that day.
The question caught me off guard, because, while my son does have a strong moral compass and feels ashamed when he makes a mistake, never before had he pondered G-d’s involvement in his own life.
I am all for intense philosophical and theological debates on the existence of a higher power, and what, if any, role said power plays in the shaping of human existence.
However, when these questions come from your own child, no amount of scholarly texts or Biblical excerpts will ease their fears.
Before I could approach my son’s question, I needed to take account of our current reality and it’s impact on my children and indeed all children around the world.
We are in the midst of what maybe the most frightening experience thus far for many of our children. Certainly, this is the case for mine.
And, even if we as adults do our best to keep COVID-19=related news to ourselves, our childre are smart. They can sense our fear and worry. They see us donning masks to run errands. They conduct their studies via video meetings. They wave to their friends from across the street.
They know life is far from normal.
Take ten minutes to peruse online parenting groups, and you fill find countless cries for help, frustrated commenters and moms and dads at their wits end over their kids’ behavior. Continue reading
