Remembering September 11, 2001

September 11

When the Twin Towers fell September 11, 2001 I was student teaching in a local school, I wasn’t able to fully comprehend what happened until 7 hours later.  We tried to shield the kids of the news and began discussions of how we were going to explain what had happened.  Who doesn’t remember where they were?  

My daughter was born September 2002; her accounts of the September 11 terrorist attacks will only be what she is told or researches. Ever since she has been little she has been curious as to the events of that day.  We tell her all about our experience of September 11 and the days that followed.  My daughter is part of the first groups of kids to learn about September 11 given that she was not alive at the time of this horrific event in our history.

As a parent I have struggled with sharing the magnitude of that day on all of America.  It was a day everyone came together and realized America is not invincible.  It was a day of American pride and despair all wrapped up in one.  It was a day that ordinary people became American Heroes.  It was a day of unity among Americans.  As a parent I have handled the questions a few ways:

  1. Honesty-When my kids ask about the events of that day, I give them the truth. Bad people, terrorists, took planes and killed innocent people.  Terrorists is becoming a very common word for our society.
  2. Media-When my kids have questions I cannot answer I turn to the internet.  There are great resources/stories for kids/parents about the September 11 attacks.     
  3. Discussion-I try to the best of my ability to answer their questions about the events. 

My daughter, now almost 15, was lucky enough to go to New York this year. She was able to visit Ground Zero and she had these thoughts: “It is sad.  The pictures of the people made it real.  The audios of the families talking about their family members that were gone was very powerful.  It was originally a major portion of New York’s business center with two buildings that ended up something completely different.”  

Photos taken by Abby Friskopp, November 2016

History is such a huge part of our nation. I applaud my children for being curious about events that have happened. While I hope that my children don’t ever have to try to comprehend another such life changing event, I want them to know the unity of the nation.  

How do you share the events of September 11th with your children?

Amanda
Amanda is the mother of four- Abby(14), Porter(10), Paxton(6) and Anaston(1) and wife to Aron. To add to the crazy mix she has 2 dogs. She keeps herself busy with church volunteering, scouts, chasing kids and being the PTO President. She is a Speech-Language Pathologist that took a recent job change after 16 years in the public schools to work at home continuing her Speech career. Although her kids are spread out, she loves finding family time and watching them interact with each other. She loves traveling, Netflix binges, and enjoying a cocktail or two. She is excited to write for the OMB and get to know her town better.

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