Explaining the hard things

As a parent, I know there are questions that my children are going to ask. So far they have been normal/ run of the mill things.

Bel went through a stage of asking "Did God make the trees, the fish and if not who did?" and the normal "How does this work?" and "Why?"

Car even asked me last night " What do mermaids eat?" I answered fish fingers by the way but if you know better please let me know!

But this morning, while running late for work and eating my breakfast (we have rediscovered Sugar Puffs in our house, yum , yum!) Bel came in as the news was showing the rioting. And then the question came, ",What are they doing, Mummy?"

So I explained that they were rooting and lioting, (yes I did say that, I'd overslept), Neb laughed at me and I re said rioting and looting. I explained that looting was like stealing, basically breaking into shops and taking what they wanted and that rioting was them running through the streets being naughty.

But, then she asked Why?

And I paused, and thought and tried to work out in my own head Why? Why have they started this? And to be honest with you as I was honest with her, I did mention that a man had been shot in London on Thursday and riots had started on Saturday in Tottenham when people gathered wanting justice for the man who had been shot. I then told her, that I had no idea why it had escalated and why it was spreading but that it was not a nice thing to do and the people doing it were bad.

I know that as this goes on, I will get more and more questions about the rioting as she likes to know what is going on in the world. So, if you have more of an idea than I do about what is happening and why it is then please let me know.

BNM