Telling the girls

Let me tell you... having to tell your kids that the dog they loved, the one the ate breakfast with every morning and ran around with in the snow, has died is one of the worst experiences in parenting. At such a young age kids cannot fathom what dying and heaven and forever are. There is no easy way to tell them.

After nap we sat them down and explained that Rex was VERY old and when Daddy took him to the vet he was not a little sick, like a cold or a flu, he was a lot sick. (We don't want them equating sick with death since we have enough anxiety issues to deal with.) We told them the doctors tried to help but knew that it was his time to go to heaven. Abby was sad but she is not terribly attached to the dog. Grace, on the other hand, look like she took a bullet as soon as she heard that he died. SHe sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. Once she settled she continued asking when he would be back or why we don't have a dog any more. It is so much for their little brains to wrap around.

It is just such a crappy situation, especially when it comes out of the clear blue. We're gonna miss that dog.