Many parents in Ukraine are faced with the need to make nearly unthinkable decisions as Russian forces continue to push further into the country. Today Parents recently spoke to Vasyl and Marta, who are parents to a 9-year-old and a 5-year-old, about the measures they and so many others are taking to protect their children.
One such measure has been the implementation of what amounts to blood type stickers, which children are wearing to school.
Vasyl explains, "It’s like a piece of paper, with blood type information, the names of their parents, and telephone numbers. There is no one form for such a sticker. It depends on every parent. It’s up to them."
The idea for the stickers was born in a private Facebook group. Freelance reporter Olga Tokariuk told Today, "This was a debate in one of (many) closed groups on Facebook. Some schools actually made these stickers mandatory."
Khrystyna, who is a mom to three daughters, also shared her thoughts: "I don't have any stickers yet. But I had a very deep talk with my older daughter because, sometimes, she comes home from school by herself."
She adds that when it comes to speaking to her younger daughters, ages 5 and 3, the conversation is different: "Of course, it's a very sensitive topic for them and they could get too scared. What they know is that, 'You should listen to your mom and do what she says.' And if I said, 'We go with me' — because you know, kids want to do what they want — I said, 'No, you do what I say, and that's it. And if you should hear loud noises, you listen to me very carefully.'"
She also described what it feels like to not really know what will happen: "It's like you're under total pressure all the time. What people write about those air attacks — for me, it's absolutely, how to say, unbelievable. Unimaginable."
Ultimately, like so many parents in Ukraine, she is walking a fine line between normalcy and reality. "I want the kids to feel like normal life — to send them to their regular classes, like dance, music school, and scouts, just to feel a regular, normal life," she said. "But what I discuss with the other parents? That has totally changed."
