Reading something about the girls in Nigeria and I muttered to myself, "I can't believe these girls were abducted to be married off". that's when I saw my son wide eyed to my left and these words came out of his mouth, "what does marry off mean, mom?"

my first instinct was that he does not need to know. He doesn't need to know that else where in the world his sister would be treated like property. She would not go to school. She would not be seen. She would not be heard. He did not need to know that women and girls were devalued. He did not need to know there were bad men who takes girls away from schools by gun point to be sold as brides. just earlier that day we had talked about what it means to marry. He seemed like he was confused by why I seemed upset by the idea of being married off.

the more I thought about telling him an excuse to not have to explain to him what getting 'married off' meant, the more I could not say words like "it's nothing you have to worry about". I made a promise long ago that I would not lie to my children if they asked me a question, even if it sometimes meant telling them something they might not want to hear. "it's nothing you have to worry about" would be a lie. A lie I did not feel comfortable telling him. People treating human beings like property to be bought and sold is something all human beings should worry about.

silence was not an option.

i told him the harsh truth. these girls were kidnapped by bad men who treated them like toys you buy at the store. He would sell them and that's wrong. He was making these girls marry someone even of they didn't love the other person.

he took it all in and said "that's not nice. I will punch him in the face!". I had to remind him this was real life and not a video game.  "that's still not nice" he said, and went to play.

indeed. It's not nice at all. I wish it was all a video game but it's reality. Honestly I don't know of I did the right thing by telling him. b I have been thinking about it all day.

let us not give up hope until the girls come home.