They say it's going to be a bad storm. My daughter, listening to the news earlier this week about Hurricane Ian, is matter of fact, sounding a bit as if she's an older adult sitting on her front porch drinking sweet tea and commenting on the weather to someone passing by.
As a child growing up on the East Coast of the United States, storms were my first introduction to science. During hurricane season, my parents would track them. A graphic detailing wind speeds and what the different categories meant hung on the fridge. We would try to guess the names of the hurricanes and how far down the alphabet the names would get. When one of the sand dunes in front of our house washed away, it was a visual lesson of the ocean’s power.
At just under 4, C is too young to fully understand why there isn't snow in July, let alone the idea of the climate crisis and its impacts on hurricanes. But she's also too sensitive to let my 'not here, the storm isn't happening here,' be the end of our talk about the hurricane. She worries about the people and animals (including in this instance alligators) in the storm’s path. Wants to know how she can help.
It's tempting, of course, to hide the climate crisis from her for as long as possible. But I think it's a disservice to shield her from scary things. Whether it's the climate crisis, a global pandemic, or death, I'm ultimately teaching her how to be an adult, which means being able to talk about, endure and even find joy in difficulties.
And, shielding her from the climate crisis is simply not an option; as a child born in 2018, it will show itself not simply in bad storms miles away but in her everyday life. She will have to navigate the changes it brings. And so, talking about the climate crisis is a conversation we must have. Not in one fell swoop, but surely it must begin.
If you are a parent chances are you've thought about having the climate crisis talk with your child, even if you haven't had it yet. Many of my conversations with other parents often lead back to discussions of what we say to our kids. And chances are you've had similar chats with your friends or posted the question in your parenting group. About having the talk. About what to say if your child comes to you and asks, "Is the planet dying?"
Talking about the climate crisis isn't a formal, sit-down conversation, and it's definitely not a one-and-done discussion. Right now, I ask C if she has questions about things such as bad storms and answer queries as they come up. Our talks focus on things we can do, like turning off the lights or why we have an electric car, and things other people, including kids, are already doing to take care of the planet. At this early age, it's about letting her discover and fall in love with the outdoors while learning simple actions to take care of the world right around her. As she grows, our talks will evolve and shift to what climate is, what she knows about the climate crisis, what her interests are and how they fit into the world the climate crisis is creating, all the while still focusing on that love of the natural world.
There are many resources for talking about the climate crisis with kids. I love NASA's Climate Kids website as a tool for those trying to understand climate change to answer kids' questions. How to Talk With Children About Climate Change from HealthyChildren.org is also a good read.
~ Bridget
P.S. Here are a few things that I've been up to:
Working: on a holiday cocktail pairings story for Edible and looking into the process of opting children out of homework for The Day Magazine.
Published: Meet the Modern Farmer Helping Immigrant Farmers Sell Their Produce for Modern Farmer and The Existential Dread of Supermarket Shopping for Nervous Wreckage.
Coming up in the newsletter: What to expect at COP27 and a letter a guest author wrote to a child born in 2022, in the year 2072.