Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Joy! and Sorrow

After I picked the girls up yesterday, we decided to take advantage of a break in the rain and enjoy the remaining puddles. We ran inside, got their boots and raincoats and I let them have it. AK in particular loves stomping. Needless to say, everyone needed a change of clothes when we were done.

With this adorable image, I now want to broach a more serious topic.

LP is obsessed with everything "from when you [the Hoos and I] were little." We need to sing the songs our parents sang to us when we were little (would be nice if I knew more than two verses of 'Side by Side'!), tell stories about it, etc. Of particular interest is our childhood pets. I don't have many about Harvey, the poor turtle I had for a summer, but the Hoos has plenty about Tabby, a cat he had for most of his formative years. He tells story after story and she never tires of hearing them.

Recently she has been asking about what ever happened to Tabby. We let her know that Tabby died a long time ago. She presses for details, but we aren't really sure what to say. Yesterday she told me, "I know what happened, Tabby went to a store with lots of tigers, and the tigers ATE HER."

Obviously, I stressed to her that this is not what happened, but I didn't exactly fill in the blanks.

We have been very fortunate not have had to explain death to the girls yet (flushing the fish doesn't count). I know a lot of friends and friends of friends that have had to struggle with tragedies and am very thankful. However, I know we should be prepared.

The Hoos has a colleague who told her daughter that someone died when they got old, now she refuses to be potty trained because to her that means she will be old.

Any pointers from the peanut gallery?

1 comment:

A's Mom said...

Not sure I would use the word "old" because lots of young people die as well. I know there are several books out there to help with the grieving process. Maybe there is one out there to help with explaining death. Just a thought.