Search

 

 

Informative Articles

Do It Yourself Divorce Forms
Do It Yourself Divorce is an easy way to file the divorce for people who have no time to visit a lawyer or an attorney. But there is a partial list of paperwork that you will need to fill up, for a Do It Yourself Divorce. Each state has its own...

Let Your Children Name the New Baby
Choosing a baby name is an important job, so make your children feel important by letting them help you name the new baby. After all, you're not the only one who's having a baby - your whole family is ! Use the process of naming the baby as an...

Maintaining your Fish Bowls
Maintaining your fish bowl can be difficult sometimes. However, your fish bowl should be kept as hygienic as possible. Doing so should help prevent any health care problems for your fish. When you are cleaning your fish bowl, do it as quickly as...

Raising Strong Daughters
When my daughter was born, I must admit there was a distinctly different feeling to it when compared to the birth of my son. Part of me was thrilled, but part of me was unsure of how to deal with a gender that I still couldn’t quite understand. ...

Wedding Invitations—Today’s Etiquette and Wording
The look of the wedding invitations you send will not only says a lot about you and your husband-to-be they will also convey a fair amount of information about your upcoming ceremony. So it is important to plan the type of wedding you will have...

 
Google
Grieving Children

While it is my belief that death is just one more experience to seek growth and soul development in our current physical forms, losing a loved one is never easy. Our family has experienced its fair share of grief in the past few years. We’ve lost my sister-in-law (my daughters’ aunt), a beloved uncle and a cherished pet, to name just a few.

I try to reassure my daughters that a loved one who has moved on is safe and happy, however, we still need to grieve and accept the inevitable feelings of loss and sadness. Loved ones will be missed. Opportunities to share life and experiences will have been cut short. They know that it’s OK to feel sad and to cry. As soon as possible after the initial shock and sadness over losing a cherished one has passed, I try to bring happy memories of the person back into our lives. It’s important to remember the love and lessons we’ve learned from them with joy in our hearts and with respect for the time we’ve had to share our lives in their company.

I tell my daughters that they can talk to the person who has passed on any time they feel like it. That person will now always be available to listen. We will still feel love for our missed relative or pet and we include the departed soul in our prayers until it feels right to let them go. We ask that they are well taken


care of and loved as much as we love them. This helps ease their anxiety of the unknown and allows them to feel that their loved one is in some way protected from whatever they might imagine exists “out there.”

I’m sure, among our readers, religious and spiritual beliefs are many and varied. It is our responsibility to help our children understand that the unknown is not a scary place and to feel secure in life’s mysteries. Even if you feel there is “nothing” after this life, children will benefit by assurances that they and their loved ones have a purpose for being.

As parents, we will be challenged to guide our kids through a myriad of life’s ups and downs. If we respect their limited understanding of the issues and guide their thoughts with a loving heart and acceptance of each aspect of life, no matter how difficult, we’ve done the best we can under sometimes-extreme circumstances.

About the Author

Rexanne Mancini is the mother of two daughters. She maintains an extensive yet informal parenting and family web site, Rexanne.com – http://www.rexanne.com -Visit her site for good advice, award-winning Internet holiday pages and some humor to help you cope. Subscribe to her free newsletter, Rexanne’s Web Review, for a monthly dose of Rexanne: http://www.rexanne.com/rwr-archives.html