Talking to Your Kids about the Swine Flu

With the Swine Flu spreading like crazy and now being one step from a pandemic many of us have a ton of ununaswered questions. But it isn’t just me that has questions, or you, it’s our kids. That’s right, while mom and dad are preparing ourselves for what to do if this “Swine Flu” hits closer to home, we may have forgotten the little ones might hear about it too. So just how do you talk to them about it?

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#1 honestly
#2 Don’t lie, don’t hide things.
#3 Find out what they know.
#4 Keep the lines of communication open about it
#5 Tell them before they hear about it some other way.

This morning I heard more about this “Swine Flu” and just how many it had infected. Yes, I was one of those that was thinking it would just be another scare again. That is until I read it had actually killed a baby. As of right now 10 states in the United States have it, 91 cases of the Swine Flu and 1 death. There are also 9 countries that have it. Obama came on the news earlier to announce that if there was any cases that suspected the children to have the flu to shut down the school.

I warned the kids about the flu this morning, just in case they heard something about it at school. This afternoon they came home full of knowledge as they followed the news at school on it. Course they still had questions I had to look up and others I still have no answers for. I’ll leave some for you.

Questions from the Kids:
- If someone at school gets sick what do I do?
- If someone I know gets the Swine Flu, do we go to school?
- Will I die from it?
- Do I have to make up school if we get it closed down?

The kids had to bring home all their books today so the school could clean properly. Each one was told by me to wash their hands once they walked in. Antibacteria soap here I come. What are you doing to keep your kids safe?