My attempt in teaching compassion and empathy to my 4 yr old.
Like most young kids, my 4 year old is crazy about police cars, fire trucks and ambulances. Its probably the flashing lights that catch their attention.
He gets super excited when he spots an ambulance.
But as grown-ups we know, ambulances/EMS vehicles are not usually happy vehicles.
This weekend, we were having a casual day-out, and my son got super excited on spotting yet another ambulance. We could see the vehicle flashing its lights with sirens blaring, and how all the cars made way for it to pass. He was observing all this and asked why all the cars stopped and moved to the side.
I felt this was a good opportunity to talk to him on what ambulances are actually meant for.
I have this thing I do....Whenever I see an ambulance rush by, I take a quick second to think about the person who needed the ambulance, and I make a silent prayer for that person to be OK. (This comes from myself being involved in an accident very long long ago!)
I said to my son "Somebody is in real danger or in a lot of pain. The ambulance is going to help /rescue them. The paramedics are rushing to take care of them and then take them to the hospital so doctors can make them better. Let's hope they are OK"
I am not sure what his little brain understood, but he said.. "Mommy....., I hope they are OK!"
This whole conversation happened in a span of 10 minutes, but I am sure it left an impact on my son.
This was one of my subtle attempts to teach him empathy and compassion, which to me are important life values.
