Self Help

While the subject of talking about children’s feelings when one parent passes away is a gloomy one, it must be addressed. Many parents every day are left to raise their kids alone after having their spouse pass away for one reason or another. It is then time for those single parents to step up to the plate and become highly successful “single” parents.

The first step in such a situation is to understand your child’s feelings when he looses a parent and work hard to keep them from having more fear of loosing you too! Below are three ways in which you can ease your children’s worries:

1. Allow children to share their grief with you. Often times parents get upset at their kids when they want to ask about why mommy or daddy isn’t home anymore. Your kids are not callous to what has happened. They have feelings too.

2. Reassure children that they are not going to die. Of course the subject may come up in the future, but this is not the time for your kids to be considering that death is a reality for them at such a young age.

3. Do not tell your kids that mommy or daddy “has gone to sleep for a long time”. This will only cause them to be terrified of going to bed at night or scare for you to sleep, fearing that you too will “sleep for a long long time”.