Okay... I am now faced with one of the top conversations I would have rathered never having to have with my daughter. She is 10 (11 in june) and an extremely smart kid with an independant streak 100 miles wide (no clue where she gets it from ) A short while ago, my mothers sister passed away. My daughter never met her, so I wasn't too worried about the issue. Unfortunately, we have another family member who is in rough shape and may not make it the week. This time, it's her great grandmother, whom she knows and has visited quite a few times over the years. So there is no avoiding it, the whole death conversation cannot be avoided. So what in the fuck do I say?
i remember telling the kids something about it being part of nature. that it's a chance to make room so more people can experience life.that it's short so we need to enjoy it and be good to others...alot of parenting seems to be winging it and hopeing for the best.i'm sure you'll come up with a good answer.
i never really hid it from my girls, and death seems to abound in my life now. kai attended her great great grandmother's funeral, open casket and all. she saw the sadness, she said goodbye to great grandma, she gave hugs, we talked about it. and that was when she was little. she's seen dead animals, she's seen daddy sad, etc. and simply being open about it and there for her when she had questions, answering as honestly as i thought prudent, helped quite a lot. kids are resilient. all they usually need is a tight hug and a lot of love.
She was here yesterday and I told her... I really should know better then to worry about the way she handles things in life... at 10, she has a better handle on emotions and such then I do. The day before, she had attending a great uncles (on her mothers side) funeral. Which was an easy line into the conversation. She told me how he had passed (from cancer) and how although she will miss him, she feels better now that at least he isn't in any more pain. When I told her about her greatgrandma, she looked sad and asked what the cause was. I told her that it was just old age and her body was shutting down. She said,"well she was old", to which I agreed, and then she said she'd miss her... Then asked what was for lunch... lol
Ahhh, death... the subject everyone hates.... I would say it depends on your faith. I being Christian, I know what to discuss and how to discuss it.
