Life and Death

Talking with your children about death is possibly one of the hardest things to explain.
 We welcomed Ollie, the cat to our family shortly after we made the move from Utah to Ohio. We were driving home from my cousin's calling hours in November and saw a sign for free kittens. So....we stopped. Jacob and Daddy got out of the car and met a very nice teenager who helped them choose a cat. Jacob picked "Ollie" immedaitaely as Daddy checked out all the other kittens to make sure Jacob was making a good decision....and he did! Ollie looked to be the healthiest and most playful cat. Now I can't exactly remember but Ollie had mink in...which meant his tail should have been bobbed...but it was not.

Ollie stayed outside and has been a very good cat...staying away from the road and staying close to home. Ollie loved any chance he got to jump in the house or car. I'm sure Grammy doesn't find it humours but during our Christmas celebration with the Ratcliff's at some point Ollie jumped in their car and ate ALL of the bread for their church communion that would take place later that night.

Well yesterday started out like every other morning....I was expecting the children I babysit to arrive. They arrived got settled in and their Mom left. Only for a few short minutes later for her to be screaming outside as she ran over Ollie. She kept saying "sorry" "he always ran away from the car" and he usually did. Could it be he wasn't expecting her or the ice covered drive...I'm not sure. Either way...accidents happen. Thankfully Andrew was home to help me.

So the hard part came last night. Carly, the little girl I watch knew that Mommy had an accident with a cat and it was Jacob's cat. So we knew that we had to tell the truth and couldn't say "he ran away" or any number of other excuses you would rather say then talk about death.

Last night Jacob gave us a great opportunity to start the conversation. He found a gift that was giving to me from my Grandpa. He wanted to know why he has never seen my Grandpa. Grandpa passed away before Jacob could really remember him. Jacob was about 7 months old. So...this lead us into the "life and death" conversation. Jacob seem to understand fairly well....perhaps Jacob and Daddy are on the same page of how to understand things...because it was sorta like..."like the batteries in my car and toys they die and we have to get new ones" and well...pretty much...rather than going any deeper explanation that's exactly right. So, we will get the boys another cat at some point ...probably later this summer...but for now it was a learning lesson for all of us.