|
|
My Child's Experiences with DeathJan 19 '01 Write an essay on this topic.
Popular Products in Building Supplies
The Bottom Line Be honest with your child about death, with age-appropriate information. They can handle it better than we think.
My daughter was only 2 when she first experienced death. It was the death of her beloved dog. We left her and our other dog with my parents in the middle of the night before rushing our aging dog, in congestive heart failure, to the emergency veterinary clinic. He passed away early the next morning. After composing myself, I had to tell my little one that her beloved dog would not be coming home because he had died. It took her several weeks to actually understand that death meant her dog was gone forever. When she finally realized that death was a permanent thing and that her doggy wasn't coming back home, she sobbed almost uncontrollably. I still remember holding her that night and both of us crying together. Her next experience with death was just after she turned five. My uncle died the day after my daughter's fifth birthday. This was her first visit to a funeral home. Not having a sitter that day, I had no choice but to take her with me to the funeral home, and then to the funeral. At first I tried keeping her out of the room where my uncle's body was. Then my deceased uncle's 5-year-old grand-daughter explained to my daughter, "My Papaw died, want to go see him?" Before I could stop them, the two little girls were hand-in-hand peering into the casket at my uncle's body. Despite my fears of this having a devastating emotional effect on my daughter, it didn't. She did ask questions in the following days, all of which I answered honestly. Now when an extended family member or friend dies, my daughter's first concern is whether or not they are in Heaven. If she can be assured of this fact, she knows she will see them again some day, and she's able to deal with the loss.  |
| Write the first comment on this review! |
|
Ads by Google
|
