“I just said hello to a squirrel and he didn’t look very happy”
The kids discovered a very tame little squirrel in the garden yesterday chilling out near the shed.
It was clear from the fact that we managed to mow the lawn and eat dinner outside without him running away that he was either remarkably friendly or on his way to squirrel heaven.
As expected, today he was no more.
“I didn’t want him to die”
Explaining death to kids is never easy.
We ended up with the usual cop out explanation of him having had a good life and going to a better place.
But how do we know?
He might have had a crap life. Perhaps his squirrel girlfriend kicked him out and he died of a broken heart? Perhaps it was foul play and one of our neighbours poisoned the nuts? And considering I don’t believe in Heaven our child friendly explanation is a bit of an easy way of getting out of a difficult conversation. Feeling rather annoyed with myself we planned a little funeral.
But how do you explain death to a four and eight year old? “He’s dead alright. That’s it. Nothing. The end of his short nut nibbling squirrel life. Deal with it”.
we buried him on the edge of the downs where the poppies grow.
“Let’s call him Happy”
Both kids seem happy with the fact that Happy has gone to a happy place, and he is now
HAPPY
(or so we hope)
.
a field somewhere 
What a lovely thing to do for a poor old squirrel #CountryKids
It’s a tricky age to explain death. When our hamster died our (then) 4 year old kept saying things like ‘he’ll be cold in the garden tonight’. Makes your heart break! #countrykids
It’s not easy explaining death to children, you seem to have managed it very well and gave a squirrel a good send off. Thanks for linking up and sharing with Country Kids.
Awwww you handles it well I think. I dont know how I wouldve explain this to my son. I will be out of words and I will probably fake the squirrel’s life. Like he went somewhere and bury him w/o my son. Death is never an easy subject. #countrykids
Great post, you handled that one with gusto! Mel #MagicMoments
Aww bless, we are quite open about death but still try to sugar coat it with talks of heaven and better places and not in pain anymore. Sounds like you handled it perfectly though #magicmoments
I think you handled that very well – we are now into the biology of death with our slightly older boys!