{"id":122,"date":"2018-12-05T10:33:12","date_gmt":"2018-12-05T15:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/charafeddine\/?p=122"},"modified":"2018-12-05T10:33:12","modified_gmt":"2018-12-05T15:33:12","slug":"helping-a-child-cope-with-the-death-of-a-loved-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/charafeddine\/2018\/12\/05\/helping-a-child-cope-with-the-death-of-a-loved-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping a Child Cope with the Death of a Loved One"},"content":{"rendered":"<header>\n<h1 class=\"title entry-title\">Helping a Child Cope with the Death of a Loved One<\/h1>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"post-meta\"><i class=\"fa fa-user\"><\/i><span class=\"small\">by<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"author vcard\"><span class=\"fn\"><a title=\"Posts by Monica Foley, M.Ed.\" href=\"https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/authors\/monicafoley\/\" rel=\"author\">Monica Foley, M.Ed.<\/a><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"small\">in<\/span>\u00a0<i class=\"fa fa-tags\"><\/i><span class=\"categories\"><a title=\"View all items in Grieving\" href=\"https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/category\/grieving\/\">Grieving<\/a>,\u00a0<a title=\"View all items in Parenting\" href=\"https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/category\/parenting\/\">Parenting<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<section class=\"entry\">\n<div class=\"at-above-post addthis_default_style addthis_toolbox \" data-title=\"Helping a Child Cope with the Death of a Loved One\" data-url=\"https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/parenting\/helping-a-child-cope-with-the-death-of-a-loved-one\/\" data-description=\"There are many ways to show children who are dealing with the loss of a loved one that you care. Learn ways to help a grieving child cope here:\">\n<div class=\"atclear\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Deathlovedone-fb.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-39990\" src=\"https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Deathlovedone-fb.jpg\" alt=\"Deathlovedone_fb\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>There are many ways to show children who are dealing with\u00a0grief and loss that you care. Here are some things to keep in mind as you support\u00a0children through the grieving process:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Keep the lines of communication open and encourage kids to share their thoughts and feelings while not pressuring them to do so.<\/li>\n<li>Listen to them tell stories about their loved one, whether this person is a parent, a grandparent, or someone else. The act of sharing stories can be very healing for a child.<\/li>\n<li>When it comes to emotions, validate that it\u2019s okay to be sad and even angry, but gently remind them that their loved one wouldn\u2019t want them to feel this way.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Try to help children to focus on happy memories of\u00a0the individual they are grieving and to celebrate these cherished moments whenever possible. It\u2019s important to help kids continue to feel a connection to their loved one and foster the significance of that person in their lives. Helping to maintain this bond will have a positive impact on them that will last a lifetime.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sumome-popup-embed-overlay\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"s u m o me listbuilder-popup listbuilder-popup-embedded\">\n<div class=\"listbuilder-popup-content\">\n<div class=\"listbuilder-popup-scale\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"sumome-react-wysiwyg-popup-container sumome-react-wysiwyg-inline-popup sumome-react-wysiwyg-is-resizing\">\n<div class=\"sumome-react-wysiwyg-component sumome-react-wysiwyg-inline-popup-background sumome-react-wysiwyg-background\">\n<div class=\"sumome-react-wysiwyg-move-handle\">\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sumome-react-wysiwyg-component sumome-react-wysiwyg-inline-popup-image sumome-react-wysiwyg-image\">\n<div class=\"sumome-react-wysiwyg-move-handle\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.sumo.com\/be33a92bac272f4fad1d137d3ad33a931463a314ceb7ca1441258504b41d827d\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sumome-react-wysiwyg-component sumome-react-wysiwyg-outside-horizontal-resize-handles sumome-react-wysiwyg-outside-vertical-resize-handles sumome-react-wysiwyg-close-button sumome-react-wysiwyg-inline-popup-image sumome-react-wysiwyg-image\">\n<div class=\"sumome-react-wysiwyg-move-handle\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"sumome-react-svg-image-container\"><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Following are ways to help grieving children cope with loss:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Creating and decorating a memory box.<\/strong>\u00a0A child can fill it with items that remind\u00a0him or her of their loved one, such as jewelry, photographs, pieces of clothing, glasses, favorite quotes, poetry, etc.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Writing a letter or making a card\u00a0<\/strong>to tell the person they are missing what they\u2019ve been up to since that\u00a0individual passed away, as well as anything else they would like to share. They may choose to bring it to the cemetery and read it aloud at the grave or where their ashes were scattered.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pretending to \u201ccall heaven.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0Depending on the child\u2019s family and their religious beliefs, this can be a very therapeutic tool for children to pretend to have a conversation with their deceased loved one and share whatever is on their mind.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Creating a memory book<\/strong>, which includes photographs of them\u00a0with this special person as well as their favorite memories.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Writing a story and adding illustrations<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Playing their loved one\u2019s favorite song or\u00a0musical genre<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Making or purchasing a new picture frame<\/strong>\u00a0to put one of their favorite photographs of\u00a0the person they lost in it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It\u2019s essential to provide children with space and time to speak about their feelings and allow them to choose how they would like to remember their loved one. When they are ready to share with you, listen with loving acceptance and non-judgment. There are no wrong feelings about loss, and it\u2019s okay if they choose not to participate in an activity.<\/p>\n<p>Remind children that they will always have their loved one, whether that is their\u00a0mother, father, grandparent, etc., and that will never change. This person didn\u2019t stop being their parent or grandparent, etc. the day that\u00a0he or she passed away. Continue to encourage open communication with children as well as opportunities to remember the person who was so special to them.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Helping a Child Cope with the Death of a Loved One by\u00a0Monica Foley, M.Ed.\u00a0in\u00a0Grieving,\u00a0Parenting There are many ways to show children who are dealing with\u00a0grief and loss that you care. Here are some things to keep in mind as you support\u00a0children through the grieving process: Keep the lines of communication open and encourage kids to <a href=\"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/charafeddine\/2018\/12\/05\/helping-a-child-cope-with-the-death-of-a-loved-one\/\">Continue reading &#8594;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":872,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/charafeddine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/charafeddine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/charafeddine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/charafeddine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/872"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/charafeddine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/charafeddine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/charafeddine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/charafeddine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/charafeddine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}