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Have you talked to your kids about 9/11?
A friend of mine recently asked me what age I told my kids about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and it occurred to me that I never did make the first step to introduce that topic. They learned about it in school. My oldest was only 3 when the planes when into the World Trade Center and in addition to being traumatized like the rest of the country, I wanted to shield that little guy from such scary news.
It's not my finest parenting hour to admit that I never did introduce the topic as he got older. It was only when watching the news one day that he chimed in that they had talked about the 9/11 anniversary at school when he was in second or third grade. My younger one has suffered the same neglect. I just haven't brought the topic up very much because I will admit, I don't want to give the kid nightmares about planes and people wanting to kill us. But he knows about it too, also thanks to his teachers.
And they must have done a good job because neither kid is afraid to get on a plane or seems to have any problem talking about it now. I will say that while I didn't introduce the topic, I have talked about it since then and we've had some good discussions about what happened and why and how it has changed our country.
If you are thinking of attending one of the many services, concerts and memorials being held around the Tampa Bay area this week, we have rounded them all up here. And here's a list of all the TV specials planned by the networks to mark the 10 year anniversary.
So I ask, have you talked to your kids about 9/11 and how did you go about it?
--Sharon Kennedy Wynne
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THE AUTHORS
Sharon Kennedy Wynne has sunscreen in her blood. She may have been born in Buffalo but she got here as fast as she could, in time for kindergarten. She grew up in St. Petersburg, graduated from the University of Florida journalism school, and even got married at Sunken Gardens. She's one of the few adults we know who actually loves taking her kids to the beach. She has two sons and with 10 years of parenting under her belt, she's starting to feel a little less out of her league. She comes from a large family and loves to debate, so brace yourself when the hot topics come up.
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Freelance writer Courtney Cairns Pastor wasn’t so sure about having kids and how she would balance child-rearing with her journalism career. It turned out that her journalism training went to good use. As the mom to a funny, active toddler, she learned to handle him like she did her sources. Never ask yes or no questions (the answer will always be no), get him to be specific (are you crying because you’re wet or your tooth hurts?) and be prepared for anything because no two days are the same. When she’s not playing trucks, Courtney crams for her book club, trains for races and occasionally bursts into showtunes. E-mail her at 
Suzannah DiMarzio has it bad for the Mouse. Although she grew up outside of Boston, she took her degree in tourism management down to Orlando just to work at Disney and the travel industry. Of course, when she married her high school sweetheart, the reception was at Disney. She’s now a seasoned stay-at-home mom to two tweens and a toddler – and yes, that is as crazy as it sounds. Suzannah has her own blog, Comment Policy
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