Posts Tagged ‘death children’

By Laura-kim single mom, recently divorced with 2 kids and the author of the blog Harrased mom.

We had a death in my family recently.

The relative that died, was part of a section of my family that have a unique culture, one they practice and believe strongly in. At the funeral the casket is open and everyone can view the body of the deceased.

As a result the funeral did pose a slight problem for me. I have never been to a funeral. I avoid them like the plague. My kids have obviously also never been. But the last thing I wanted to do was possibly offend my family.

Fortunately they agreed that since it was an open casket funeral it would not be a good place for the children. I will be honest I breathed a sigh of relief. Granted, no one is really ready for a funeral.

It does pose a question though – do you take your child to a funeral? If you do from what age? What do you tell them?

My kids are currently 5 and 7 – they know what death is but neither of them seems to really understand it. Cameron thinks it would be cool to die – so he clearly has no idea yet that it is permanent.

Also how do you deal with cultural traditions like an open casket? I wouldn’t cope with it so would my child? Should I expect them too? It does make it a little easier to deal with when the person isn’t close family but it is still something that makes you think.

What would you do?