The other day, there was a tornado watch for our area. We don’t have television, so my mother in law called me to let me know about it. Although I was fairly certain that no tornado was going to come spinning through our yard, I did turn the radio on so that if there were a warning I would hear it.
Dylan heard me talking about it on the phone with my mother in law, and asked me “What tornado is?” I explained to him that there were going to be very big thunderstorms that afternoon, and sometimes when there are big thunderstorms the wind gets very strong and spins around. I told him that the spinning wind is dangerous and can knock down trees. It is a basic explanation, I know, but he is only two and a half. I wanted to make sure that I did not make it sound overly threatening. He got the point, apparently, and began turning circles in the kitchen and saying “Dylan tornado circulate”. It was adorable. He was not at all concerned and I would not have wanted it any other way.
Perhaps even more important than keeping the explanation simple was that I kept my mood and feelings in check. I am normally a fairly anxious person, but I knew that the danger was minimal and that I would be able to keep myself and the boys safe if anything did happen. All I said to Dylan is that we would have the radio on all afternoon so that we could hear if there was any “information” that we needed to know about the weather. There were three emergency alerts that afternoon, and each time I heard the music interrupted by the alert I walked to the radio to listen to the “information”. The third alert was a tornado warning for our area. I calmly told Dylan that we were going to go downstairs and play in the basement for a while. I already had Blake in the baby sling, and Dylan took my hand and walked down the stairs. We played with toys that were stored in the basement until the warning expired and then we went back upstairs.
Toddlers are smart little people. They do not have to understand exactly what is going on in order to have a feeling about it. As a parent, one of the best things that you can do for your toddler is keep a clear head and remain calm in situations that would otherwise make you afraid. You know what to do to keep yourself and your toddler safe, and if you remain calm, your toddler will follow suit.
Photo by ostephy on morguefile.com.