When someone tells me their child is too young to understand I always wonder. I remember some pretty deep emotions going far far back into my childhood. I also had some ideas about some difficult topics.
So last night when Kyri woke up crying (real tears) three times and had to be comforted to go back to sleep, I decided to talk about it. This morning I asked her if she could remember why she was so very sad last night.
"Opa died." Matter of factly. So we talked about why she needn't be sad or worried about that.
Yeah. Mike was incredulous and asked again at the dinner table. "Were you thinking about Opa last night?"
"He died." Sad face.
Either my kids are exceptional or many people underestimate theirs.
4 comments:
Your children are exceptional, and many people under-estimate theirs. Remember the Bible says, unless we become like little children. There is a reason for this.
My Pip is like this. I can't explain to anyone why she won't sleep the whole night in her own bed, why we couldn't just let her "cry it out." Three moves before she was one year old and a lot of Mommy not being okay has made her so sensitive to everything that happens around her. She has such a tender heart - ramming over it would destroy her, I think.
Meredith was a new two when my grandfather passed away. She cried at the funeral and even now, 2 years later, she'll still talk to my mom about how Grandpa Spiehler died and is now in Heaven.
I think kids catch on to way more than we give them credit for.
I just saw Megan's comment and was going to say something along the same lines. Meredith cried at Kevin's grandpa's funeral. She kept saying, "I love Grandpa Spiehler. I'm going to miss him so much." She was barely two years old. She fully grasped what had happened and asked us lots of questions about heaven. I think children understand a great deal and can fully and completely grieve the loss of a loved one. Some may not be able to articulate it as well, but I think they have the same feelings.
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