Ok, so in my last blog I asked you to look over some stories, poems, and pictures from kidsaid.com, a site for children going through the grieving process. When I stumbled across that site while doing research for an earlier blog, it gave me a pretty hard slap in the face.
We all talk about the grief that we are experiencing or have experienced. This is a very real process, and a very different process for each person it affects. Those of us who have experienced grief as adults, however, tend to forget that there is a very different side to grieving for children. We have the ability to go online and find blogs like mine, or websites like this, or support groups in our community. They do not. We may have friends and co-workers that will notice our grieving or that we can confide in. They do not. Furthermore, most often when a child has experienced a trauma, the adults in their life have been affected by the same trauma as well, either it has happened to them or they are grieving as well. The only people that these children have to turn to may be gone, or in so much pain of their own that the children don't get the attention that they need.
If you have just lost one of your parents, your children have just lost a grandparent. They don't understand why they are gone, and why you are acting like you are.
There is some great information on the Q & A section of kidsaid.com, as well as a glimpse into how parents coping with grief are trying to help their children. Take some time to read over them, it may help you with your children in a time of grieving, or even just help you put your own grief into perspective. If these children can get through the process of grieving, there's hope for us adults yet!
I focused on this topic as a transition from explaining the stages of grief and the symptoms people experience to a lighter series on ways that different people find success in dealing with grief. We'll take a look at some different ideas in my next few blogs.
There is some great information on the Q & A section of kidsaid.com, as well as a glimpse into how parents coping with grief are trying to help their children. Take some time to read over them, it may help you with your children in a time of grieving, or even just help you put your own grief into perspective. If these children can get through the process of grieving, there's hope for us adults yet!
I focused on this topic as a transition from explaining the stages of grief and the symptoms people experience to a lighter series on ways that different people find success in dealing with grief. We'll take a look at some different ideas in my next few blogs.
Remember:
"The good news is: there's angles everywhere out there on the street, holdin' up a hand to pull you back up on your feet."
