Sinisa’s mom passed away yesterday morning. Along with all of the other things that need to be figured out when a loved one is lost, parents of little children face a unique challenge…how do you explain what happened in a way that is age appropriate?
Our boys are 4 and 5. I don’t think Lucas will comprehend what is going on but we need to tell Jacob, our 5 year old, about his grandma. We believe in Heaven and so I want that theme to be included, however the last time that I tried to come from a “they are in Heaven” perspective (when he saw something about someone we didn’t know passing away) Jacob said he didn’t want to die. While Heaven reduces the scariness of death, I definitely don’t want him to be thinking that it is going to happen to him, too.
I’d love your thoughts and ideas on how you explained the loss of a family member to your child. We don’t want to wait too long to tell the kids but we want to make sure that we do it in the right way.
So sorry for your loss. Does your church library have the book Heaven Is For Real. I would share that with your sons. We also talked to our sons and tried to explain it simply to them and answer any questions they had.