Have you recently lost someone in your family? If so, then there’s always going to be a lot to think about. If you have children, then you should always consider how they are experiencing the grief from the loss. Depending on their age and their personality, a child could be just as crushed by a family pet passing away as a relative. So, with that in mind, let’s think about some of the key steps you can take to help your children through the grieving process in the future.
“This post is a partnered post and may contain affiliate links. These thoughts and opinions are in line with my own personal beliefs.”
The Funeral
First, you should make sure that you are thinking carefully about the funeral. For instance, you might decide to let your children attend the funeral. This is something to talk to with a company like Academy Funeral Services. When they plan out the funeral, they can potentially ensure that it is completely child-friendly and won’t be distressing for them. Ultimately, whether or not a child attends a funeral will depend on their age. Do be aware that when children are young they don’t understand the concept of mortality so a funeral makes little sense to them. A child will gradually begin to understand that death is permanent between 5 and 7 years old. A child may also decide they don’t want to attend a funeral and that’s okay too. You should never force them. Ultimately, everyone grieves in their own way.
Remembrance
If your child doesn’t attend the funeral, then do consider that there are other ways to remember a loved one or grieve a loss. For instance, you can engage in an activity that they once enjoyed. This could be as simple as playing their favourite board game or perhaps going on a walk around their favourite stomping ground. Moments like this can help trigger positive memories and help a child reach acceptance.
Talk It Out
Next, you should make sure that you are talking things over with your child. It’s all too easy for things to remain underneath the surface and be forgotten about completely. If you don’t have an understanding of how your child is feeling regularly, then their emotions may come out in erratic bursts of energy in the form of anger or anxiety.
Understand The Five Stages
Finally, you need to make sure that you understand there are five stages of grief that a child could go through as they are grieving. This includes depression, anger, bargaining, denial, and acceptance. Do be aware that there is no set path to reaching acceptance. A child could go through any stage in any order and may even repeat stages.
We hope this helps you understand some of the key steps that you can take to help your child through the grieving process if they lose someone that they love. Be aware that a similar type of process can occur when a childhood friend moves away or for any significant change in their life. For many children, it’s not the loss, It’s the sudden, unexpected change to their life which they may not fully understand.
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