Balloons, children and Bereavement
March 28, 2009 by Anna Farmery
Filed under Bereavement and Children
My friend who I have written about before lost her husband a couple of years ago. At the time the children seemed to cope with the loss relatively well, yet recently they have had some behavioral problems. When she talked to them they told her that they wanted to see Daddy and how they wanted to talk to him, that they had never really said goodbye.
The other day she took them to a park which they used to visit as a family. She gave them some paper and a pen each. She asked them to write down what they wanted Daddy to know. After they had finished they tied the notes to a balloon each and let them go….into the sky.
I thought this was a wonderful idea. The children being young now have a pack of balloons by the side of their bed and any time they want to tell Daddy something then they can tie it to a balloon.
Will it work in the long run, time will tell but I think as a parent my friend is showing how important it is to find ways of allowing your children to express their grief. I thought I would share it with you…
Do you have any ideas to share to help widows and widowers with their children’s grief?
cloud, storms, water
There is a great memory book for children who are dealing with terminal illness and the loss of a loved one. The beginning children’s story highlights various stages of grief and concludes with a journal. The journal is used to record the child’s feelings while creating their very own memory book.
More info is here: http://www.trinityharbor.com/children_death_dying_grief.htm
Best of luck,
Rob
Rob – thank you I will check that out. I feel so much for children, so often they carry the confusion inside for years before it comes out…