Stock market meltdowns, dot-com deflation, bull and bear markets -- it's all lost on kids. But as America's long-running period of prosperity and blessings, loses steam and reports of layoffs make headlines, the term "economic downturn" is literally brought home.
James couldn't bear to tell his teen-aged son about being fired. For days he got up, put on a suit, left the house, and drove around until after his son had left for school.
On the day Mary was laid off, she went home and made paper-bag puppets with her toddler and preschooler. Once the art supplies had been cleared away, the single mother found herself fighting back tears. Sitting alone at the kitchen table, she began scribbling numbers on the back of a puppet, looking for ways to cut household expenses.
When Ernastine's six-year-old son learned that she'd lost her job, he asked a friend in kindergarten if his family could move in to her house, "because we won't have any money to live in our house anymore."
What to Tell Kids
Job loss creates anxiety and economic hardship for families. For advice on how to talk with kids about layoffs, we consulted three experts -- here's what they have to say:
Carolyn Hoyt, editor at Working Mother magazine: Telling them proactively what's happened is probably the best thing to do, because they're going to see that Mommy's not getting up and going to the office, or Mommy's mad at Daddy. What happens when you say nothing's wrong is that they'll perceive the truth anyway, and then they won't trust you at exactly the point they need to.
I have a solution for families: This is working out fantastic because we are using a Team Build to develop it so therefore there are no holes and everyone moves up systematically just like clockwork, moving everyone to the upper levels.
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