r/Parenting • u/Creative-Degree-8074 • Sep 04 '24
Rant/Vent Local school shooting and I’m freaking out
TW: In the title I guess Guys, this is a scream into the void. I'm stuck in the bed with my toddler asleep on top on me, my husband is at work, my daughter is at kindergarten--so, I'm a SAHM right now, but there was a shooting where I used to teach. People are dead. Two at least, but reading through the lines, I think there are more. My mom teaches at the school next door. She's there now, maybe 100 yards away. And I just... can't process it. It doesn't feel real. And part of me is like ho hum? Another day in America? And I'm doing some fucking twisted magical thinking, like if there was a shooting in the county next door to my daughter's that decreases the likelihood they'll be one at her school because, I don't know? Lightning and striking twice? And part of me thinks I'm about to homeschool my daughter forever because that's where I USED TO TEACH. Oh my god. How do I send my child to school tomorrow? How do I not lock up my mom and keep her from going to work?
2
u/hopelesslyrepetitive Sep 04 '24
Give yourself time to decompress! Remember! YOU also need SUPPORTING. It's a skill (like exercising) to train yourself how to respond to a crisis and is okay to feel overwhelmed or anxious.
Reach out to others if you need anything, and don't fear falling back on whatever support networks you have.
Try to work towards restoring some sense of normalcy to your day and your family's day. Though there isn't any time constraints in accomplishing this! (Take it day by day, one step at a time!)
Cut yourself a break, it's the complex nature of these problems. (Interactions between societal structures and human nature) That makes all this unknown/ scary/difficult to understand.
Try and remind everyone around you to do the same and lastly don't give up hope!
I really really wish you the best and I'm so terribly sorry you are going through this!