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Teaching L.A.’s Kids To ‘Freedom Dream’
The Powell kids: Joah, 9, Jordan , 5, and JJ, 10. Parents: Tunette and Jason. (Courtesy Tunette Powell)
At the start of the coronavirus we offered advice on how to talk to your littlest kids about the pandemic.
Now there are more crises to talk about — and experts and parents I talked to say it’s important to put what’s happening in the world right now into context and help kids feel safe and hopeful.
For the past month, Tunette Powell has been encouraging her boys to imagine their futures.
Her five-year-old son Jordan sees himself at 25 running marathons in Mexico, driving a Lamborghini with two English bulldogs named Cody and Dody.
His nine-year-old brother, Joah, wants to be a wrestler. He imagines a world with “water. It has love. It has a lot of things. It’s so good to live here. I love how we have all sorts of animals, my favorite dog and lizards.”
JJ, 11, imagines “being able to break out of a shell, not just going under someone else’s commands.”
Thea Monyeé is an artist, healer and licensed marriage and family therapist. She also hosts the podcast, Dem Black Mamas, and says parents can share their own feelings with kids, even if they’re complicated.
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“I can hold joy in my body for when I see protesters kneeling together in silence with their fists up in the air. That brings me great joy,” Monyeé said. “And I can also hold sadness for a business owner whose property was damaged.”
READ MORE ADVICE FROM PARENTS AND EXPERTS
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