Today Klara and I went to a pro-Ukrainian protest in town. I’d rather not involve her but her dad is out of town and the friends I could have asked to babysit were all going, too. Serves me right for having great friends. Even my friend from Africa showed up with a kid and an infant in tow. The colleague from Venezuela came but that’s obvious. A couple of Republican politicians attended.
The protest was filmed and will be shown on Ukrainian TV. The other Ukrainian and I taught everybody some Ukrainian on the spot to address the cameras. A local art class under the leadership of an immigrant from China made Ukrainian flags for everybody. It was a truly multinational event. My favorite person on campus whom I never met but who helps me with international faculty was there. I now know what she looks like.
The organizer is the only other Ukrainian in town. We embraced and wept for 15 minutes, singing Ukrainian songs. After knowing her for over a decade, I discovered that she has an enormous swear lexicon in Russian. I also realized that even though everybody is wonderful and supportive, nobody really understands like another Ukrainian.
After the event, Klara very formally thanked me for telling her about what’s happening in Ukraine. I managed to wiggle my way out of the question of what country the evildoers who attacked Ukraine came from.
Clarissa's Blog 
I don’t understand why you’re so worried that she would somehow start seeing all Russians in this dimension, including her father. She is mature enough to understand that there are good and bad people of any nationality, etc. And also that people are several things at once – their job and nationality, for example. It’s no more complex than that but it’s enough for her to process the information without being traumatized. Show her those protests against Putin in Russia that you hate so much so she can see that many Russians are against this. Those are about the only age-appropriate videos of the current events that could shown to her (maybe without some of the parts of arrests being made).
I know the fairly tale you told her was very simple, but you can add a bit of dimension to the real story.
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My father has the same advice. I’ll probably do what you suggest but I need to practice it because I can’t even say “Ukraine” aloud without starting to cry. I need to gather myself so I don’t scare her.
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She has two parents. Why can’t her father talk to her about it? I was very close to my father and talked to him about everything.
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It just had to happen that he’s away right now and won’t be back until next Saturday. But a brilliant idea to have him talk to her about it when he comes back. My brain isn’t functioning at all.
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I’m glad you managed to avoid answering that question. That would have been a hugely difficult conversation, especially for a six year-old. It’s probably hell on a lot of kids with mixed Russian-Ukrainian heritage right now.
Hugs and prayers for you and your family right now. I can’t imagine the kind of pain and anxiety you’re in right now.
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I found the videos from Friday’s demonstration in Riga very moving. The people of the Baltic states know better than most what is at stake. https://twitter.com/arniskrauze/status/1497266716455452674
Thinking of you and your family, and of course everyone in Ukraine.
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