sharlan 02:19 PM 10-18-2011
How do you explain death to a child?
4 yo came down this morning saying that Blue ran out of energy. Blue was one of his gold fish. He had 2, Red Fish and Blue fish. He told me that Blue needed medicine so I went back upstairs to check it out and found Blue floating.
Once I got him back downstairs, Blue took a final swim. He and Grandpa went out and bought some more "family" for Red.
My DD was 4 when our first fish died. She's a smart cookie so I explained what death was and what happens. I thought it was a good opportunity that I could explain to her instead of waiting until a family member/friend passed away. She understood and was sad, not scared like I imagined it. I think it depends on the child and what you think they can handle. And definitely not in front of or around other children who are too young.
sharlan 05:33 PM 10-18-2011
He and Daddy are now headed to WalMart to buy another "Blue". Grandpa took him to PetCo and they got 2 more Reds, but that isn't working. Blue was a white goldfish.
He has many autistic tendicies and often "fixates" on things. Right now, it's Blue.
I see a larger fish tank in his future.
daycare 06:00 PM 10-18-2011
Originally Posted by sharlan:
He and Daddy are now headed to WalMart to buy another "Blue". Grandpa took him to PetCo and they got 2 more Reds, but that isn't working. Blue was a white goldfish.
He has many autistic tendicies and often "fixates" on things. Right now, it's Blue.
I see a larger fish tank in his future.
so sweet of you guys to make him feel better and get him a new friend.
Our cat died at the start of the year....we were all so very sad, but we could not get another cat. My allergies to the cat were getting so bad that we had to demote the cat to the garage.
We did not tell my son who was 3 at the time that the cat died. he saw us put the cat in the cat box and took him to the vet. He knew taht the cat was sick and that he went to the doctors. Then every time somone knocked on the front door he would say, my kitty is home. Just to open the door to friends or DCF arriving/picking up.
We eventually told him that the kitty was not coming back and went to kitty heaven. He was sad and said that he wanted to go to heaven to see his kitty. We told him that it was too far away. Eventually he stopped asking....I was happy because I didn't know what else I could tell him to help him understand....
cute names for the fish....I love cat in the hat