Lately my daughter has been talking about death a lot. She hasn’t experienced death in her nearly 5 years of living. Our 13-year-old family dog is still happily terrorizing the neighbors and our 2-year-old beta fish continues his reign on our kitchen island. My daughter hasn’t been exposed to losing a loved one but yet she has openly shared her point of view on passing away very matter-of-factly and without emotion.
On the passing of our dog, Georgia:
“Mommy, is Georgia going to die soon?”
“She will die one day.”
“When?”
“I don’t know, honey. Why do you ask?”
“When she dies, I want to get a new pet.”
“Won’t you be sad when she dies?”
“I will be sad but a new pet will make me happy.”
On losing her mother (moi!):
“Oooooooh…diamonds. Can I have these when you die?”
“Ummm…Sure, yes.”
“Because when you die you won’t need them.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
“And I’ll be a mom then with dead diamonds.”
On losing both parents:
The classic bedtime stall ball tactic “I’m sooooo thirsty” is in full effect at our house. The sip of water is now the last step of the bedtime routine. The other night, she said in the sweetest voice: “Mommy when you and daddy die, I’m going to drink 300 glasses of water.”
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How ironic that I read this today. I was expressing concern over this exact issue with my husband this morning. My 5 year old has talked of death for a while now with no emotion. No one has passed. She does say that she wishes no one had to die then she asked if her and I can be put in the same box when we die so we will always be together. I didn’t even know she knew we were put in a box.
Does anyone have insight on this and if I should be concerned with her talk of death at this age? Any recommendations on what I should say?