I spent the afternoon with Logan finishing his required summer reading assignment. This fictional book was about a girl who survived the Holocaust partly because of her admirable strength and partly because she fit the picture of a perfect Aryan face. As I read, Logan finished annotating the book. Then he asked me a question that stopped me in my tracks. Mom, what was the bad smell coming from the smokestacks at the prison camp? Finally I explained that the Jews were killed for their faith. They would not bow down to a crazy man who wanted to be God and that made them heroes to me. He then looked up at me & said Were they martyrs? I nodded with tears streaming down my face. What are the right words to explain to him about the atrocities that occurred in those camps? I made my son read this book at bedtime this summer and all for a stupid quiz grade! I cant imagine how scared he was reading about families being torn apart & kids being killed just because they were Jews. I dont know what the right age is to have to explain these things to him but this was not the right time to do it-reading alone over summer break. My kids have read many books over the summers & I definitely encourage it! But to assign my 11 year old son this book when he has never been taught about the specifics of the Holocaust is just not right. Until he is older, Chris & I will be reading these books WITH him & explaining the events as we follow the story. I may be overprotective. I may be crazy. But if I had any idea that he was reading a book that was giving him nightmares, I would have stopped it immediately! Now he is back to sleeping on the sofa outside our bedroom door. I AM NOT 1HPYMOM tonight!
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 03:10:49 +0000
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