I think most parents that are raising their children to be compassionate, kind and caring people would use a gentle, caring and compassionate approach to their own children. I do. I am giving my children a life of how I wish the world was like. It is almost as if they live in a bubble, or as my husband says “my children are still living in a “Bob The Builder” world.” A world where everyone is loving, caring, nice and happy.

We all know the world is quite different from that picture. I am wondering how other parents are introducing “the real world” to their children. How do you burst the bubble?

I don’t mean to put all of the world’s problems on one little child’s shoulders. I simply want to give my children a feeling of what the world is like, when I feel they are ready for it. They have to find out eventually anyway. The problem is that there are so many problems to talk about and the last thing I want is to make my children depressed. They need to know what is going on in order to make their own choices in life.

For instance, if a child has all his/her friends going to the circus and he/she is not allowed to go with them, it is important for him/her to understand why he/she is not allowed. Otherwise he/she will feel left out and feel he/she is not treated fairly. Or if you want your child to say no to a cheese pizza when he/she is alone with friends, he/she needs to understand why his/her family is making the choice to stay away from dairy. But how do you tell your child about the cruel circus industry? And how do you tell your child about the dairy industry? For me, those two industries are my most sensitive areas and the hardest to expose my children to. Probably because they both separate mother and child.

I would love to hear from other parents how they did. How old was your child whey you first told them that there are those who suffer in the world? How much did you share?

My oldest child is just over three and he does not know about life and death yet. He does not know that he is different from the norm. I have not told him about the dairy industry, but he sees me breastfeed his little sister. When he plays with his animals he puts the baby animal underneath the mother to give the baby milk. He even puts his toy cars to his nipples to nurse them. So he understands the true meaning of what milk is for.

I have shown him a sad picture of the circus industry. I wrote and illustrated a children’s book about a little elephant in a circus. Two brothers find this crying elephant in a cage and hears his story about how he was taken away from his home and family, sold to the circus and now sitting locked in a cage. The story has a happy ending. The brothers immediately decide to rescue the elephant (Jojo). Without knowing it, the boys are just like animal rights activists. They don’t think about the written law, but purely follow their heart. The story has a happy ending where the brothers bring Jojo back home to Africa to his mother.

I self published the book through BookSurge. The title is “Saving Jojo.” My author name is Sofia A. Guagliano, if you are interested you can order the book online at

• Amazon
• Book Surge
• Alibris

I read the book to my son all the time and he likes it. He usually talks about the story afterwards. Mostly about the part where the hunters take Jojo away from his mother. I use this as an opportunity to talk about how he feels and that the hunters were wrong to take Jojo, how they did not have the right to take him from his family. I want to leave him with happy feelings and a positive look on life, so we lastly talk about how it ended and how much elephants enjoy being around their families.

The book is a great way to start a talk with your child. Older children could probably think of different solutions to the “problem of circuses.” Maybe they want to help elephants themselves? I am planning on letting my children do some leaf letting outside circuses when they get older. That way, they are making a positive impact on the world and keeping them hopeful of the future.