Talking to kids about why bad things happen

Sherre Hirsch, Rabbi & Relationship Expert, shares advice for parents on the best way to answer your child's questions about why bad things happen in the world
Advice For Talking To Kids About Why Bad Things Happen
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Talking to kids about why bad things happen

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There comes that moment, as a parent, when you have to explain to your children why bad things happen in the world. It's painful in the world and it's not fair and it's not ordered. What kids want most in the world, is for things to be fair. The first thing I tell my children is, instead of saying "why?" say, "What?" "What now? What to we do now that this bad thing has happened?" There is a great anecdote from Jewish tradition, in which a man turns to God in terrible pain and says, "God, why is there all this anguish and suffering, why didn't you send help?" God looks at this man, and responds, "I sent you." When there are bad things that happen in the world, remind your children that they are the instrument to bring good in the world. They are the ones that can change the world from being a place where there is bad, to being a place to being where there is more good. Then they will understand more fairness.

Sherre Hirsch, Rabbi & Relationship Expert, shares advice for parents on the best way to answer your child's questions about why bad things happen in the world

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Rabbi Sherre Hirsch

Rabbi & Relationship Expert

Rabbi Sherre Hirsch is a mother of four, author, speaker, TV personality, teacher and the spiritual life consultant for Canyon Ranch.  After eight years at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, she stepped out from behind the formal podium to share her message in all kinds of pulpits from The Today Show to a small baptist church in Alabama.  She published her first book, We Plan, God Laughs: What to Do When Life Hits You Over the Head in 2008; her second book will be published in early 2013. Rabbi Hirsch spends her free time practicing yoga, baking brownies and playing freeze dance with her husband and children.

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