Two more days until 9/11...what do you do on this day?

[gaillardia]

Do you go to any memorial services?

Do you let it go by and not talk about it much?

Are your children curious about it?

Do you talk to them about it?

I'm curious. We don't go anywhere to remember it or anything like that. We don't set it aside as a different day. We might watch something on the news (oh, but now we don't have cable or satellite tv so I guess we won't) about it.

If they ask, I tell them our circumstances that day and how things unfolded over the next few weeks, and months, and years.

 

Has it left such an impression on your children that it has served as a motivating force for them to join the military or to want to join?

I'm really curious.

[Liz CA]

Since my ds was in elementary school and vaguely remembers the teachers talking about it, he brings it up sometimes. We have since talked about it and it was part of a history course and another course (cannot think of it now) later on.

I personally usually remember some names and faces associated with it. For some reason, I am more often remembering the incredible courage of the people who brought down flight 93 over PA and likely knew they would die in order to save others. I am remembering that Todd Beamers (then) unborn child is now already 12 or 13...

[JBJones]

We talk about it on the anniversary and other days. I think about all of the families that lost loved ones. Honestly, I feel like I hold my breath a little from about 9/4 until around 9/15, hoping nothing bad happens (on that scale) out in the world. I do know that it can happen any time of the year and that bad things happen every day. September has been forever changed to a degree for my family. For some, it's an unimaginable change. I cannot even begin to comprehend their loss.

[SemiSweet]

We talk about it, it inspired me to join the military. We don't really commemorate it but we talk. If we close to ground zero we might go in the days leading up or following but we aren't even remotely close. We are going to be participating in a Pearl Harbor day parade this year though. As a military family, I like my kids to know why we do what we do.

[blondeviolin]

I have sensitive kids so we glaze over it pretty generally. My husband was in the Philippines at the time so I find that his experience was vastly different and missing that collective horror that we all felt on that day, regardless of where we lived. Mostly I remember those that lost, read, pray. Maybe this year I'll talk about it with my oldest two...

[LNC]

This year I am getting inducted into my local branch of Daughter of American Revolution Thursday morning!

 

Usually I watch tv and cry...

[Tanaqui]

I lived through it (though not as close to the actual disaster as some people, luckily, just on Staten Island). I don't want to rehash it every year. For the first few years I actively stayed in to avoid even seeing the lights (which are plainly visible from my part of Staten Island).

 

[sewingmama]

It's my DS's birthday so we celebrate that. My kids are young so I haven't said much about it to them. I showed them a short video on youtube a while ago when they were asking what terrorism meant. I did tell DS it happened on the same date as he was born as now that he is almost 7 he is starting to notice comments people make when I tell them his birthdate.

 

My kids are already afraid of flying so I don't plan to make a big study of it till they are much older. They know about it...and the basics of what happened and saw a youtube clip once. On my sons birthday we keep the tv off so it isnt a damper.

[Mrs Mungo]

My kids and I talk about it. We do watch documentaries. We sometimes attend remembrance services. Our community is still losing lives due to that day. My kids face sacrifices that most kids do not. We have known people killed in action. They have friends who have lost a parent. It is important for us to remember why we are making those sacrifices.

[DawnM]

We talk about it some, but we are very busy on Thursdays.  I am gone from 8am-3pm at school and then rush home to get ready to leave at 5:30pm for soccer practice.

 

 

[Chris in VA]

We moved here (Northern VA) 3 weeks before 9/11. My boys were 4th and 5th grade. It was the beginning of a very scary time for them that scared and scarred them.

We will watch the news, talk and remember. But we won't do anything else or attend anything.

 

My heart goes out to those who lost loved ones or just felt so much fear. My heart also goes out to those whose faith makes them targets for ugliness on that day.

[Pippen]

I remember my brother who was born on 9/11 and died in car accident when he was 20. He's been gone now more years than he lived so it's an annual reminder of his life and our childhood together.

[Night Elf]

Dd16's school has time off during the day to watch videos from that day. She hates it. It's like reliving it. I understand they want the kids to understand what happened, but I think watching the videos is disturbing.

[AlmiraGulch]

I've been watching 9/11 documentaries all week, as I do every year.  

 

Last night I was watching and DD11 came in and was watching with me.  It was the first time she'd seen some of the most horrible sights and sounds (like the people falling from the towers) and so I was watching her reactions closely.  She didn't say much, but I could see her processing.

 

We'll be on a plane on Friday, and she asked what if we get on a plane that someone hijacks.  I explained to her that the likelihood of that happening is very small, and even more so based on the route we're taking.  She asked a few probing questions, and I said that the hijackers picked those specific planes, on those specific routes, because they wanted large planes with as much fuel as possible based on the long planned routes.  The flight we'll be on is relatively short, and the plane is not particularly large.  She thought a minute and said that makes sense, and said that we've been on flights from Atlanta to Seattle, Atlanta to Portland, Atlanta to LA, and if nothing happened on those, she's pretty confident nothing will happen on Friday.  

 

It was a good conversation.  She asked good questions.  I still hate that we live in a time where I even have to have those discussions. 

[gaillardia]

We used to not do our school work every year on this day since that day and sometimes we would watch programs about it on tv. I know how I felt the days and weeks after it happened. I know if I went to any memorial service I would be a mess, so that's why I don't go to those. My youngest was 2 mos. old when it happened and the next up was only 20 mos. old.; they don't have much interest in knowing about that day but do like knowing how and why things have changed and why our military and president do the things they do, and many other topics that branch out from there.

 

I am so naïve; I thought that by this time in my life there would be world peace and it would be a good thing because people had learned how to live together and apart and not have a war over it.

Two of my sons have expressed desire to go into the military and the older one said 9/11 has not played a part in that decision. I reminded him that he was raised during times of war/conflict in the ME and I think it does influence his decision, that it is part of his background. He said joining the military you get to do cool stuff, help other people, gain new skills, get more education and help prepare you for your future.

[Slartibartfast]

We discuss what happened, we watch documentaries.

 

We don't plan on going anywhere, particularly not with that bad cold going around. Dd was only 7 months old that day, she is 13 now.

[JustEm]

I think about my grandmother.  She had a serious stroke about a year before 911.  She was in the process of relearning how to talk, walk, and write.  I was 16 and she was living with us at the time.  Although my mother and her siblings did most of my grandmothers care I did help her at least once a week when my mother needed a break or needed to be at an appointment.  It was a long recovery and she had started showing serious improvements in August and early September.  On 911 we got out of school early and when I got home just sat on my grandmothers bed with her and my older cousin watching the news.  We live close enough to Dover airforce base that military planes would fly over head and it scared us every time we heard it because there was the thought that it wasn't a military plane but another plane making an attack.  

 

After that day something in my grandmother just gave up.  All her progress quickly vanished and she started going downhill slowly.  She passed away that March. I have no doubt in my mind that she chose to stop fighting for her life that day.  Why she chose to I don't know exactly but its clear to me that she made that decision herself and slowly allowed herself to die.  She was an amazing woman who I wish I had known better and am so thankful she spent the last 2 years of her life living with us.

[Chelle in MO]

I pray for those personally affected by the tragedy, and I text my friend whose brother-in-law died in one of the towers to remind her that her family's suffering is not forgotten.

 

 

[umsami]

I think about people I know who lost friends/colleagues in the tragedy.

 

I try to avoid wearing black, because one year back when I was working, I unknowingly wore a black dress with a hijab and I got a lot of comments/hate over it.

 

I try to avoid going out as much as possible because I realize that tensions are high.

 

The kids are kind of aware, but I haven't felt it was appropriate for them to watch videos of the tragedy as of yet.  But they've been with me when I've been verbally assaulted, and I've told them that before they were born, a bunch of Muslims did a horrible thing and caused many innocent people to die, including firefighters and police officers.  I told them that to many Americans, that was all they knew of Islam, so we need to try extra hard to show them the good in our faith.  I also said that sometimes when people react negatively towards me, it's because they're scared and angry, so to try to be kind to them nonetheless, because they are hurting inside.  

[MysteryJen]

We talk about it, but I also I remember that it was my first OB appointment with dd2 and the first time I heard her heartbeat. Light and hope and optimism for the future there. She is still a beacon of light for us.

[Starr]

We travelled several times to NYC that year. Out of the mouth of babes, dd 7 says, "Is my friend alive and will this start a world war?" 

[SharonM]

Celebrate my brother's birthday. Of course we cant help but remember what happened that day. But life does go on.  

[trulycrabby]

We watched part of a documentary last year. Even though we did not watch graphic parts such as people jumping out of the towers, the horror of the buildings coming down really bothered him; he said it was like Star Wars when Alderaan was destroyed by the Death Star. :( I think it really tore his soul to know that thousands were dying in those moments when the towers fell.

 

This year we are going to go to the pool and swim.

[gardenmom5]

it's my nieces bd.   and to think - mil wanted her named after her paternal grandmother . . . . . want to know what her name was? . . . .?   . . . ?  Osana. . . . . .

 

we live on the west coast - and so it didn't have the impact here it did in ny.  (where 1dd was starting her freshman year of college upstate.  she was much more affected.  her school shut down because of the number of alumus, and family of staff & students who died.)

 

 

[VeteranMom]

Dh and I were both in the Air Force when 9/11 happened.  I was pregnant with my twins at the time and on bed rest.  My ds seems really interested in 9/11 and we have watched documentaries together.  We don't do anything special on that day, but my kids know why it's significant.  We are a pretty big military family, so I suspect at least one of my kids will enter the service when they get older.  

[gingersmom]

I remember it all the time and don't have to wait till 9/11.

[Dory]

We're up in Canada, but we'll talk about it as we do every year. This year I might go into it with a little more detail for my oldest. My boys are pretty sensitive so I haven't shown them any videos or pictures yet.

[bibiche]

DS and I call my brother, whose best friend died in Tower 2.

[PinkInTheBlue]

Ironically I'll be flying on that day to the Middle East. :)

[HRAAB]

I vividly remember that day; my dh called and told me to turn on the TV.  We always mention it, but otherwise, the day goes on like any other pretty much.  I think this might be a good year to watch some documentaries with my twins.  They've been asking question, and this would be a good time for a discussion.  They were babies when it happened.

[strawberries]

It's my DS's birthday so we celebrate that. My kids are young so I haven't said much about it to them. I showed them a short video on youtube a while ago when they were asking what terrorism meant. I did tell DS it happened on the same date as he was born as now that he is almost 7 he is starting to notice comments people make when I tell them his birthdate.

 

My kids are already afraid of flying so I don't plan to make a big study of it till they are much older. They know about it...and the basics of what happened and saw a youtube clip once. On my sons birthday we keep the tv off so it isnt a damper.

 

This, almost exactly. It is my DD's birthday and she will be 7 this year.  We have talked about the 9/11 attacks, but we don't discuss it on the actual day. 

[JennyD]

 

We lived very near the WTC site until a few years ago.  They used to send two beams of light up from the towers during the week of 9/11 every year, which I always found quite beautiful and moving.  However, I don't know if they still do that, now that the new 1 World Trade is fully built.

 

My older two children have always known about the event and spent countless hours watching the construction on the site.  We live far away from NYC now, but when we visit we always go back to our old 'hood and marvel at the changes.  Here at home, though, one of my all-time favorite picture books is The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, by Mordecai Gerstein, and the month of September often reminds me to pull it out and read it again with the kids.  

 

I have not seen it myself, but there was a documentary made a few years ago by a high schooler from Lower Manhattan whose first day of kindergarten was 9/11/01.  It is about his and other children's recollections of the day, and might be interesting to check out for older children.  

 

[Ewe Mama]

I reflect upon my memories of the day, but I keep it private. Simon's birthday is shortly afterwards and he is always brimming with excitement, so I don't want anything to burst his balloon, so to speak. We have talked about it, but not around the anniversary of the attacks.

[elegantlion]

This year I'll be at school - college. Previously, we've discussed it every year. Ds turned 4 the week after 9/11 and he still remembers watching (probably too much) footage. In the last few years, I've had to step back and simply acknowledge the day without events.

[KungFuPanda]

My kids were really small and don't remember the event itself, but it's been remembered their entire lifetimes, so it's significant. I hadn't turned on the TV that day and called DH at work because we were about to close on our house. He told me to watch the news and hung up. He worked for the govt. at the time and they were scrambling. We barely saw him for a few weeks. I'm still grateful he didn't have to go to the Pentagon that day. I remember that the first Halloween in the new house didn't really happen. People just sort of skipped it that year.

 

This year the first day of co-op is 9/11. I STILL hold my breath a bit if a plane sounds too low. This is ridiculous considering our proximity to BWI, but that's my hang-up. On the FIRST 9/11 anniversary I held the first meeting of Daisy Troope 1911. THAT was an odd coincidence.

[Katy]

I try and stay home & avoid TV that day, and will specifically this year since those airliners got taken in Tripoli.  We're no longer in a part of the country that is threatened, but it's still scary.

 

This time of year reminds me to check on our emergency preparedness, make sure we have enough food, water, and batteries to last through several weeks of power outage (I specifically do this in case of fall ice storms, but 9/11 always reminds me to).

 

If kiddos ask I'll talk to them about it, but I don't bring it up.  I want them to feel safe and happy and not be concerned with things like ISIS or terrorism.

[Plink]

We don't do much, but my kids almost always pull out their Fireboat 9/11 picture book on that day: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142403628/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0142403628&linkCode=as2&tag=libhilhou-20&linkId=6PJBPPCQSXACVOP4

[Ripley]

We get out family photos and letters. We talk and cry.

This year my boys have a baseball game at 6:00pm.

If I'm still sober, we'll go enjoy the national pastime.

If I'm not, then they'll put me to bed before they leave.

I make no plans, the day takes its own shape.

 

 

 

[umsami]

We don't do much, but my kids almost always pull out their Fireboat 9/11 picture book on that day: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142403628/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0142403628&linkCode=as2&tag=libhilhou-20&linkId=6PJBPPCQSXACVOP4

 

Oh wow, thanks for posting this.  I hadn't heard about that book.  

[Susan in TN]

I do whatever is on the schedule for the day. We talk about it when it comes up - seeing extra flags out, hearing stories on the news, etc. Most of my kids were not born yet and are a little sensitive, so I try to steer the conversation to emphasize that though terrible things may happen and we may become afraid, we are not so easily destroyed as our enemies might wish.