I was very proud of Mykelle's understanding of the resurrection when we went over it Easter week. She seemed to have a basic understanding and was HAPPY about the story, which we should be right? When teaching her I pointed out that we will all die some day (only one time) but will be resurrected and live together forever in Heaven. Again, she seemed happy about this. Well I must have spooked her yesterday when she was playing on the back of the couch by the window AC unit. I told her to be careful, she could push the AC unit out and she might fall out as well and hurt herself. Here's how the ensuing conversation went:
She asked, "Would I fall and be squished on the ground?"
I replied, "That COULD happen, which is why I want you to be careful!"
With eyes wide, "Would I DIE??"
"You COULD die, so please be careful."
Said matter-of-factly, "Well, I would just come back to life like Jesus and be ok."
I of course laughed, then tried to explain to her that when we die we have to wait a long time until we all come back to life and get our bodies back to live together in Heaven with Jesus and Heavenly Father. I told her that if she got hurt falling out the window and died, that Evan and Daddy and I would miss her terribly until we got really old and died ourselves, then we could see her again in Heaven. But we didn't want to miss her on Earth for such a long time so again, be careful! She looked at me thoughtfully and seemed to take it all in.
Well, she's been randomly tearing up and saying, "I don't want to die one time Mom! I want to stay with you and Evan and Daddy!" Ok, so she's only done it twice, but it breaks my heart each time! I've tried to explain to her that she won't die for a very long time- not until she's really old. Just to calm her down but she doesn't like that explanation very much. I wonder if it's just a stage and the beginning of understanding death? Any ideas on how I can help her feel a little better? I could use them!
Oh, that makes me tear up too.
ReplyDeleteMany little kids are fascinated with death. My first graders used to tell made up death stories. It was a little odd to me, but I think it was their way of processing something hard to understand and scary.
ReplyDeleteSo sweet, you guys are such good parents!
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