A lump has been in my throat for 22 hours now. My kids are all in their 20s, but we’ve lived through many horrors including Virginia Tech and Columbine. Here’s some good advice from the Idaho Evening Journal. As moms and dads, we must listen and pay attention to what our kids need to discuss, and not all kids are the same. The Seattle Times also offered some terrific advice.

More links provided by PBS from Gary Meier, Superintendent, Ferndale Public Schools in Ferndale, Michigan:

• Talking with Kids about the News from PBS
• Helping Children Cope After a School Shooting
• Children’s National Medical Center
• Tips for Talking to Children About the Shooting
• Helping Kids with Nat’l Tragedy
• Here for Each Other – PBS/Sesame Street

Pam Parker is the editor of Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa. She is the mom of three, stepmom to three and step-grandmom to one.