All I talk about now are my children. I've been thinking a lot about my autistic kid again. He's so happy with me in the water, he smiles and laughs and babbles, but what about after this? I know his parents are kind people, but I am more worried about school. Now it probably isn't so important, but when he gets older, other kids will realize he is different. What if they make fun of him? I can't protect him from that.
What about my other kids? What if they are made fun of, or bullied?
What if they become bullies?
In the sixth grade I had a substitute teacher who, because she was just a substitute, sat and talked to us. She asked us, "Have any of you ever thought about the meaning of life? Why we're here?" I raised my hand, the only one in the class to do that.
She said, "I think about why we're here all the time. And I finally decided we're here to make the world a better place for the people who come after us."
I am in a position where I could teach my children that. I could teach them to think and feel, I could teach them kindness and generosity. But that's not really my place.