How to Tell a Child about Some One’s Death
Whether your pet has passed away and you want to take your kid to select Pet Grave Markers for it or, there has been a death in the family and you want to take your child to the funeral, talking about death with kids is never easy.
If we are being honest, death is a somewhat complex and maybe a bit too dark of a topic for a kid. In fact, the majority of parents do not even like to mention the word death in front of their toddlers. To most parents, death is a topic that they think their kids will find a bit too scary.
The “death talk” with kids
A lot of parents seem to firmly believe that talking about death with their children might leave them horrified and it might even scar them for life.
But, at the same time, it is important for children to attend events like a funeral. Attending such events will not only strengthen a child’s belief in death but it will also teach them how to properly honor a loved one who has passed away. And for the family whose member has passed away, bringing all friends and family together can be quite therapeutic and can help with healing.
It is quite clear that we should be taking our children to funerals but, there’s always the issue of us adults having to talk about death with our children. And that brings us back to our main problem; “Should we really be talking about death with a child? And if yes, how exactly are we to handle such a conversation?”
How to actually talk about death
Manufacturers of grave markers in Maryland tell us that the answer is quite simple. And, to ensure that our readers understand everything and that there aren’t questions left in the end, we are going to take things step by step.
First of all, there’s the issue of telling children about death. For many parents, the answer to this problem is a plain “No.”, when their response really should be “How old does my child need to be before I talk to them about death?”.
Honestly speaking, it’s not about the child’s age but their maturity. As soon as you think that your child can grasp big concepts without any difficulties, you should let them know what death is. Some children will be able to handle such conversations by age 5 while others might take two more years.
Needless to say, the words you use to describe death should be nice and polite. Some parents also like to lie about death to their children, they say things like “death is like sleeping”; this is just wrong. Whatever you do, don’t lie about what death is.
And now, comes the issue of telling a child about a death in the family. Using very polite words and avoiding any scary details, you should let a child know about the death. And of course, answer any questions they might have.
When it comes to taking them to a funeral, clearly describe to them what a funeral is and what will happen at the funeral. Let them know that if they see some grown-ups crying, it’s completely fine and everything is okay.