Andres
Puritan Board Doctor
My wife's grandmother has terminal cancer and is only expected to live maybe another month or so. Our three year old is pretty close to her. She has been a major part of his life for the last two years. Even now, my son will accompany my wife to visit her at least once, sometimes twice a week. My son knows that "grammy is sick" and we pray for her often. The problem we are struggling with is how to explain her death to him.
I don’t want to teach my son anything that isn’t true about death. I know that I can explain death to him biblically, but again, he’s three so he is limited in what he will grasp. One of my concerns is him fearing death - I don’t want him to think he will die soon, but then again I don’t want to give him false hope by saying something like, “oh you’re a little boy, you wont die until you’re old”. How do we strike balance in these areas?
Does anyone have any experience explaining death to young children? Any suggestions on resources that might be helpful? Thanks in advance.
I don’t want to teach my son anything that isn’t true about death. I know that I can explain death to him biblically, but again, he’s three so he is limited in what he will grasp. One of my concerns is him fearing death - I don’t want him to think he will die soon, but then again I don’t want to give him false hope by saying something like, “oh you’re a little boy, you wont die until you’re old”. How do we strike balance in these areas?
Does anyone have any experience explaining death to young children? Any suggestions on resources that might be helpful? Thanks in advance.