I Told My Toddler About a Mass Shooting. Here’s Why.

Author’s note: I originally wrote this in June 2016 following the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida that left 49 dead. This piece originally appeared on Babble.com, which is no longer in publication. I’m reposting it here because sadly, six years later, it’s still relevant.

“Can we listen to the news?” my three-year-old son asked.

After picking up my son up from daycare, I had just buckled him into his car seat. “Sure, honey,” I replied.

Our local public radio station — like so many media outlets right now — recapped the horrible massacre that happened in Orlando on Sunday.

“Mom, what are they talking about?”

I glanced up and looked at my son in my rearview mirror: I could see the gears turning in his inquisitive little toddler brain.

“Mommy, what are they talking about on the news?” he repeated.

I always knew that some day I’d have to have this conversation with my son; I just hadn’t expected it so soon, at such a young age. My mind raced to try and think about how to respond in a way that would make sense to a toddler.

“Over the weekend, something very sad happened where a lot of people got very hurt,” I replied as gently as I could. I knew it wouldn’t…