She was 5 and she's 7 now. We explained to her that all living things die, as she knew, and that our cat Gracie was nearing the end of hers. We pointed out the trouble she'd been having, the pain she'd been in, and that we wanted to make sure that she was well taken care of, that she wouldn't be hurting any longer. We did have to go through a discussion about why we wouldn't be burying her in our yard as my daughter wanted to make a monument there so she could always visit. I explained that since we rent our house, we wouldn't always be here, so that wouldn't work. That lead to the idea of pictures, so she'd always have something to remember Gracie by.
Judah On Wed, Jan 15, 2014 at 11:28 AM, GMoney <[email protected]> wrote: > > How old was she though? I don't expect that reaction from my 4 year old, > frankly. I expect mostly "why?" questions. My son hasn't really shown that > level or depth of emotion yet. > > > On Wed, Jan 15, 2014 at 1:21 PM, Judah McAuley <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > > Explain what is going to happen, let them make a choice about how they > want > > to deal with it. My daughter really wanted to take some pictures of our > cat > > and the family together. It was rough, no doubt, but it made her feel > like > > she got to have a hand in the parting and that was good for her. I took > > our cat to the vet while she was at school and gave myself time to cry > > afterwards. > > > > There were still sad times that came and went for my daughter afterwards > > but the pictures helped her. > > > > Cheers, > > Judah > > > > > > On Wed, Jan 15, 2014 at 10:36 AM, GMoney <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > So we have to put our dog down. My son is 4 and daughter 2, both just a > > few > > > months from turning 5 and 3. > > > > > > Should i tell them before I take the dog in, and explain that she won't > > be > > > coming back...so that they can say a goodbye? Would they feel > > overwhelming > > > sadness? I'm ok with them feeling sad that she's going away, but i > don't > > > want them to be emotionally wrecked. > > > > > > I think the 2 year old is probably young enough to just move on, but > Ben > > > will definitely know that he's going to lose his pet forever. > > > > > > I dunno...anyone had to deal with this at a similar age for their kids? > > > > > > I'm thinking I should either: > > > > > > 1) Tell them the day before i'm taking her in that she's leaving for > good > > > tomorrow, and they should say goodbye...then just answering their > > questions > > > honestly afterwards or > > > 2) Not telling them before hand, and waiting until they ask where the > dog > > > is before explaining why she had to go away. > > > > > > Advice? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:369228 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
