gift for mom

Gift Baskets For Children-Memorial Day Tips

Helping Kids Cope With Grief

Gift Baskets For Children Grief Coping Tips For Kids

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep

I Pray The Lord My Soul To Keep

As Angels Watch Me Sleep At Night

Until I Wake In The Morning Light

Amen

Children hurt the most when a beloved parent or family member, or friend don’t come home from military service because of death. It’s the hardest thing in the world to talk about. Talk we must.

In Honor of our servicemen and women who didn’t come home, Gift Baskets For Children acknowledges these men and women in their unselfish service to their country and their gift of the ultimate sacrifice – their lives – on the day set aside to honor these heroes.

Gift Baskets For Children honors the memory of a beloved person in your life and knows that these tips for helping kids cope with the loss of loved one for Memorial Day (Victoria Day for Canadians) are important.

Explaining Death to kids up to six-years-old:

Kids understand simple language best. They have an uncanny knack for sensing when someone is being honest with them. Be Honest. Let kids ask as many questions as they want or need to. Each person will feel something different – Let them know that it’s Okay to feel however they need to – That there is nothing “wrong’ with their feelings, because there is no right and there is no wrong interpretation of death and how you ‘should’ feel. there is no such thing as how a person ‘should’ feel.

From a literal perspective is how children up to age five or six understand how their world relates to death. Explain to this age group in literal terms. For example if it is the loss of a service man or woman and the death was sudden – similar to a car crash kind of sudden, then you can explain the fact that the death was sudden in a way this way, “The human form of the body won’t work again, because that ability was taken away. And, although this is a sad, sad thing to happen, the body doesn’t now have the ability to work again – It is gone away for good. “

If you have religious or spiritual belief then you could explain that as well at this point in time. Personally, the thing that has always given our family the most comfort in the loss of a loved one is the understanding that they are never farther away from me than a memory. They stay in our hearts forever that way – with us – beside us and in times of sadness we find that comforting.

But to a child, they may think that the loved one has taken up residence in their heart and that if they had a key to let them out they could come home again.

BE careful of the words you use – their understanding is literal at these ages.

What kids have a hard time making any sense out of is the fact that that person will never come back alive. In trying to explain the finality of death, you are often repeatedly asked by children, “When are they coming back?” or MANY variations of this theme. It’s the hardest part to understand for them.

So be aware that their sleeping patterns may be affected with the news of a death. They might be fearful of falling asleep at night if their loved family member or friend was “Lost.” instead of their family member who “Died,” and who will not be coming home again.

How Do I answer the Question – “When Are They Coming Home?

Gift Baskets For Children Found this answer helpful – “They are in a resting placed called a _____(grave, mausoleum, you fill in the blank) now. “

Again, if you have a belief that is spiritual or religious that you want to share, now is a good time (Heaven or an afterlife) to share that belief. It is important to help kids understand that going to sleep, or a loved one or pet going away, isn’t what causes death so that they aren’t afraid when those things happen.

Explaining death to Kids between six and ten-years-old:

Again – Simple, clear, correct, honest explanations about death work best and are most understandable. This age group has a tendency to believe that they can negotiate with death and are known to turn death into a ‘monster,’ or ghost – even ‘that thing under the bed,’ can symbolize death for them.

They may begin to believe that death is something they can bargain with or take upon themselves to try to prevent by changing their behavior (for instance if I am just a better baseball player – the list is endless – then my dad won’t go away and die). Help them know that there is absolutely no way they can control death in as honest a way as you can find.

Explaining death to teenagers or kids over ten-years-old:

In some ways this age group is the most difficult and the easiest. That is because they are out of the repeated questioning phase, but they internalize their feelings more and begin to question being mortal and the vulnerability of the human body and spirit. Their questions are more internally focused and they often question your belief system, which can be frustrating if you are trying to explain and answer their questions.

Easy to say, hard to practice – stay calm and patient with your explanations. Listen more than you speak so that you can hear what it is they are afraid of the most and answer their questions as simply and honestly as possible without judgment or criticism. You want kids of all ages to open up to you so that any guilt they may be feeling because they are still alive (survivors guilt) is out in the open in a place where they feel safe talking about it with you.

Is This Age A Good time to Remind Kids About Their Personal Safety?

Gift Baskets For Children shouts the answer to this question – YES! It is a wonderful opportunity to explain to kids the importance of driving safely, being careful where you walk – avoid dark streets, travel in groups when you are out at night and emphasize that they can stay safer from harm when they are in places that you can’t protect them in by protecting themselves.

It’s also a great opportunity to talk about living life with no regrets, making the most out of the time you have and that you love them no matter what.

If you are the service man or woman being shipped out from home and want to leave your kids with the best tip of all, tell them you are proud of them and that you love them. That is something that all ages understand.

Irregardless of your feelings about the wrong or right of this war, it behooves each and every one of us to support our troops…our nation’s sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers. To those who have seen duty clear, far and away from home…this Gift Baskets For Children Post is dedicated to you.