Yeah, I'd try to dissuade him from bringing the shovel. lol

 

When our hamster died, we wrapped it and put it in a box. The girls each insisted on coloring a picture to put in the box and then they watched as we buried it in the back yard. They too, left flowers by it's grave. And all last summer (and into the fall, every time I walked past that spot, there were clusters of flowers, weeds and clovers. Even the few times we ventured out this winter, I've noticed dried sticks placed carefully nearby.

Being "underground" really makes a big impact on kids with death.

 

I wish I had heard of this book when our bird died! My kids have been through the death of one bird, one cat and one grandfather. We've always been pretty matter-of-fact about the whole thing and I'm amazed at how unafraid they are of it all. I don't even tell them that I know what happens after death (we talk of heaven more as a 'I hope there is' vs. 'there definitely is').

 

You have to hand it to Margaret Wise Brown for understanding kids! The line about them leaving flowers every day "until they forgot" is so perfect.

Thanks!

 

Why is it that the things that don't impress us adults speak so strongly to our children?

 

i have a friend who is a hospice chaplain, and he says that kids need us to use simple words (dead. not "gone" or "Asleep" or "passed away" but DEAD) and not to beat around the bush. And that ultimately they get it much better than we do. My daughter talks about how we used to have cats, but now they are dead. It's just a fact. They are gone. And sometimes kids wonder if we will see the dead again, and express this. As opposed to adults, who KNOW it but don't want to believe, so don't express it. Kids express it, we explain to them, and they move on. Yes, I think kids actually get it much better than we give them credit for.

Sorry for you loss.

 

I am clearly too emotional to be reading this.

 

Well, I laughed out loud. I love the last line. I think my OS would like this book. We talk about it every time we pass a cemetery. Yesterday he wanted to know what would happen if there was a gravestone with his name on it.
I think it's really important to say DEAD. Asleep is just terrifying! Sometimes I hate Margaret Wise Brown, but I can see that this is a good one for kids.

 

Thanks for this. I'm always being asked if I know any books to help kids deal with the loss of their pets. This might help, even if it is a bit gruesome.

 

I liked the "until they forgot" line. ;-)