Death in a child's eyes

Death is a difficult topic for an adult, but then when you have to explain it to a child, it becomes a bit more complex. Recently, my husband and I had to have this discussion with our children. Our 2-year-old didn't really pay attention, but our 5-year-old was very curious.

Before the viewing and funeral, we talked to our daughter about Grandma passing away and that she was now in Heaven. There were many questions about whether or not we could still visit Grandma and when we would all go to Heaven. Talking about our own mortality wasn't especially fun for me as a mom, especially when my daughter said she wanted to go to Heaven now to be with Grandma and Jesus.

Then, we got to the viewing and, after much discussion with my husband, we decided we would take the kids. When our daughter walked in and saw Grandma's body, she immediately asked if we were in Heaven - tears immediately came to my eyes. Questions continued about why she could see Grandma but she wasn't really here. How do you answer these? I finally settled on saying that Grandma was now asleep forever on Earth, but awake with God and Jesus in Heaven.

So, this inevitably led to a Mama Law moment of my daughter telling everyone who came after us, into the viewing, that Grandma was already dead. But, it was said in such a cheerful voice because my daughter knows that, while Grandma's dead here on Earth, she's alive and well in Heaven.

My daughter may not fully understand the adult emotions that come with death, but she knows - and is excitedly anticipating - there is something far greater than here on Earth.

...I'm still working on teaching her the difference between wanting to go to Heaven NOW versus being ready to go when it's our time.

The love of and for a Grandma. There's nothing quite like it.

Comments

Leadership Mom: SWOT Analysis

In business, leaders often analyze our Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats through a SWOT analysis. So, if we are going to look at our role as moms as being the greatest leadership opportunity to us, let's start with analyzing ourselves and our kids. Here's the SWOT I developed for my family: Family SWOT Analysis As a doting mother, there are hundreds of strengths that I could put up here for my kids. Their hugs, kisses, bedtime stories and prayers, the fact that they come to me when they're seeking healing from an injury (physical or emotional), the notes and drawings they make for me, their precious hearts when they try to help me or that they've learned how to use the Keurig to bring me coffee in the morning...I could go on and on. Now, here's the part where we get honest with ourselves. Yes, we love our kids and we love our family (or, hopefully, most of the time), but we are not perfect. Nor should we be perfect. As we analyze oursel

Cybersecurity 101

One of the things that continually amazes me as a parent of young(er) children is their ability to quickly understand technology and its uses. Not only have my children learned the art of swiping to use different devices, but they've also learned how to access apps, take pictures, answer calls (both phone and Skype), and more. My children could teach their grandparents a lesson or two on how to use technology. But, as a student of cybersecurity, I have seen a greater need to educate my children - as well as so many others - on the cybersecurity. This goes beyond posting inappropriate pictures and unfriendly words on social media (although these lessons must also be taught). This goes into the nature of understanding the benefits and risks of using technology and the privacy lost to it. The major premise that must be understood in regards to cybersecurity is that information/data is money. It's value is continually increasing. We need to secure our information just as w

Why can't they just be friends?

Why can't my kids just be friends? I must ask myself this question hundreds of times during the week. I thought that having kids relatively close together was going to be great. They'd have a playmate and an automatic friend. However, the truth is that - most of the time - they don't get along. It's not that they're enemies...it's that they drive each other crazy. They each want the other one to do what they want to do. Then, when the other one does what they want, they get mad at them because they wanted to do it themselves. They don't want to share their toys. Then, they play together only to then get mad and purposefully break the other sibling's toys. They want to get the other one in trouble so that they look like the "good" child and get more rewards. Then they get upset that the other sibling got them in trouble when they *tattled* on them. At mealtimes, they want to sit where the other one is sitting. They want the c

Murphy's Laws for Moms

Search This Blog