It was a basic principle of the 'hood. "Whatever is mentionable is much more manageable," said Mister Rogers. When kids entered Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, very few subjects were taboo. In his calm, exacting way, Fred Rogers talked about some of the most "scary" topics: sickness, loneliness, death and even divorce. He affirmed, for his thousands of young neighbors, that it was okay to talk about these things and to have feelings about them as well. One of the best things we can do is "get to our honest self," he said.

No doubt, if Mister Rogers were here today, he'd be talking about war. Unfortunately, it would not have been for the first time; he talked about war in 1991. He also had several heart-to-hearts with his young viewers following the events of 9/11.

Scary stuff, indeed.

Mister Rogers assured his audience that he felt scared sometimes, too. He said that when he was a boy and heard scary things on the news, his mother would say to him: "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping."

That was likely the message to us grownups: Be helpers.

Sounds like advice for the toy industry to heed, too.

We have the means: toys through which children can discuss and act out the scary stuff; playthings through which they can become heroes; the childhood tools that can help them escape to the Neighborhood of Make Believe. We also have the space, the time and the ingenuity to do all of this.

Following the events of 9/11, the toy industry opened its arms wider than ever before and rallied without competitive regard—retailers and manufacturers alike—in order to keep childhood secure and to safeguard its purity.

Our guardianship is not over.

When thinking of ways to make our stores "destinations," consider that during these times we can plan for our shops to be safe havens as well. Havens where kids can express and work out all the scary stuff that's going on—or just get away from it for awhile.

There is no shortage of creativity and imagination in this business. Let's use these talents to counter our kids' anxiety.