I do not know how you do it.

[Safetykitten]

I do not have children. I wonder many times how parents can let their kids out of their sight. What kind of courage and faith do you have to do this every day? What do you tell yourself when you hug them and they get on the bus or walk to school?

This is beyond horror.

[AldoLeopold]

1. That the universe is going to do what the universe is going to do

I have no control over it. I take precautions, but my son may precede me in death. Its possible - in a vast universe of near infinite probabilities I would say it may even be probable.

[Wait Wut]

2. We don't know either.

It's instinct, I would guess. The knowledge that your child needs to grow, experience, explore, socialize. But, you become hypersensitive to sirens. You avoid watching the news. You read more labels. And, you do all of this without intent. It's like magic.

My son is 30 years old and a retired Marine. All I want to do is hug him and cry. It never goes away. I just keep picturing him when he was 4-5 years old, bright, gorgeous smile, longish strawberry blonde hair and always laughing. I know at least one of those kids would have reminded me of him when he was their age.

[cynatnite]

3. Sometimes we live in a bubble and we take life fore granted until something like this happens...

I have a 13 year old son and 4 young grandchildren. I think about them sitting in their classroom and I get scared to death.

We have to let them go at some point. It's a fact of life that we are forced to deal with.

[seabeyond]

4. playing the odds. son was born a week after okla city bombing. off to preschool with columbine. 911

1st grade.