Triple Threat
parenting triplets in the Capital District
Watching in horror
I
News of the war in Ukraine leaves a mom and her family worried
watch the news and can’t turn off the mother part of me when I see families trying desperately to get out of Ukraine. How could I? The very sight of children in winter coats clinging to adults as they continue to put one foot in front of the other while carrying another child or the basic necessities in a bag is heartbreaking. This mom doesn’t know how long she will be walking, how far she is travelling or if she has enough supplies. This isn’t a camping trip. This isn’t a quick trip to see the family the next city over. Imagine having to leave your home with your child and not knowing if you need diapers and food for two or three days,
weeks or months. How many children can a mother carry? How many supplies?
I don’t know how I could get three children, my disabled husband and my mother out of Albany and cover hundreds of miles. I could try to find a safe place and then figure out how to meet the family’s most basic needs. Harlan is medically fragile and would die in 7-10 days without dialysis. How far can my mom walk before she could not keep going? What would I do? I have no answers. I feel utterly useless. I see these women and I wish that I could help.
Moms are talking, tears flowing unchecked, about leaving behind homes and famiby lies that may no longer be there when it is safe to return to Ukraine. There is no question that life will never be the same. Families will feel this fracture forever. How will people find family members? How will the children get back their innocence? I have never faced this and won’t pretend to Presently, the kids are learnbe an authority on the subject. ing about World War II in So-
Jennifer Steuer
cial Studies, and they are drawing conclusions while watching the international news. I see them struggling to comprehend this situation. For sixth grade Hebrew School, the entire curriculum is the Holocaust. I see Olivia, Benjamin and Rebecca losing some of their innocence because they know genocide can happen again. My kids are 14 years old and they see the inhumane treatment of people just like us and don’t understand how this repeat behavior is possible. They feel helpless, just like the adults do. One of the families at the school is organizing donations
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