Mystery Reader

This past Wednesday, I had the opportunity to be the "Mystery Reader" at my daughter, Juliana's kindergarten class. The Mystery Reader shows up to the surprise of the children and reads a book to them.

I was conflicted about my book choice. I had chosen to read "Sammy's Mommy has Cancer". It is a book about cancer that is geared toward small children, to help them understand the situation in a clear but honest manner. After I finished reading the book I surprised the kids again by whipping off my hat to show off my bald head. They loved it! Some of the kids came up to rub my head and make a wish, while others passed my hat around to try it on and laugh at how it came down so far on their little heads. One child came up to me and said quietly that his Grandma had died of cancer. I took his hand and said that yes, sometimes that happens and it is very sad. But very often people recover just fine. I told him I was sorry about his Grandma. He seemed okay but I wonder if I awoke an old wound in him.

I believe that it is so important to be carefully honest with our children about what we are going through. They pick up on the tension in the house and know that things are not as they were. It is our responsibility to explain, in ways they can accept and understand. We give them the best possible outlook on the situation, telling ourselves that if things go badly we will explain that as we go too. I think that fear of the unknown is the worst fear and telling a child that things are just fine when they clearly are not is not helpful.

After I read the book to the kids I handed out little treats: animal crackers and little toys. Then, to lighten things up I read another book "DogZilla" which was a big hit.

Juliana was thrilled to have me in her classroom and it was a special experience for me too. Sam had come with me and Nick had slipped into the classroom during his lunch break. So I had my three little ones with me. I shared a difficult experience with gentle candor and humor and then we moved on to the silly stuff. All in all, a perfect afternoon.

~Ema