Your pet dies.
For some households, a pet is another member of the family. When that pet dies, this can lead to real grief for your child. Children's understanding of death depends on their developmental stage, so it can be helpful to have some understanding of that as you help your child deal with their grief over a lost pet. KidsHealth.org has a great article, When a Pet Dies, that provides practical advice for helping kids of different age and maturity levels.
If your child is having a very difficult time handling the death of a pet, let their teacher know. This will help them be especially sensitive to your child's feelings at such a difficult time. In addition, if you think they could benefit from talking to the social worker, feel free to give us a call and request we meet with your child once or twice. We can do such things as sharing happy memories about their animal friend, drawing pictures to help remember their pet, or just letting them have a moment to cry when the shock is still particularly fresh.
If your child is having a very difficult time handling the death of a pet, let their teacher know. This will help them be especially sensitive to your child's feelings at such a difficult time. In addition, if you think they could benefit from talking to the social worker, feel free to give us a call and request we meet with your child once or twice. We can do such things as sharing happy memories about their animal friend, drawing pictures to help remember their pet, or just letting them have a moment to cry when the shock is still particularly fresh.
