Ever since Mabel went to the cemetery with her grandparents on Memorial Day, she has been afraid of going to heaven. She thinks it is going to happen at almost any moment. She tells me that she doesn't want to go to heaven on a daily basis. I try to tell her that she won't be going there for a very long time-- until she is a really really old lady, and that heaven is a nice place, and that I will be there with her, but she is still worried. Last night, as I was putting her to sleep, she said, "I hope I don't go to heaven before I grow my hair out." (For those not in the loop, she is currently growing her hair out like Sleeping Beauty, Annie, and Lindsi.) It is so sad for me to think about the things that worry her! Maybe we need an FHE lesson on heaven to soothe her worried little soul.
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Can you remember worrying about that when you were small? I remember thinking about that myself and that was a long long long time ago. This will pass in time and I know you are worried about this little soul but just keep reassuring her and she will be fine. She will really look like a princess with long blond hair. She already is one! Love you all
ReplyDeleteMaybe my kids will have a wacked out idea of death, but we talk about it quite a bit in our house. I have told them that we don't actually die, that our spirits just separate from our bodies (use a glove analogy) for a while, and then when we are resurrected they come back together. We tell them the body is like the glove, and the spirit is like our hand. The spirit doesn't stop working just because the body is gone...
ReplyDeleteI think this has helped, maybe even gone a little too far, because they all tell Elliott and I they want to be killed. Yes, we have some issues! :-)
By the way, I wouldn't necessarily tell Mabel she won't die until she is older... I don't want my kids to have the mistaken notion that no one dies young, because when someone they know does die young, that may scare them more. Just a thought.
I got a good chuckle out of this. I remember when I was very young having a primary lesson about our heavenly parents and being very upset that I'd have different parents in heaven.
ReplyDeleteour kids talk about this a lot, too. since their grandma died, they often ask about how and why her body got so sick, where she is and what she's doing. So we go over the paradise/heaven concept again. we talk a lot about spirits and bodies, and how our spirit never dies. I think that's a very important concept in our belief system. they're actually excited for it, too, because they know there will be lots of people there who love them. audrey is convinced that "gie" sends her little messages in the sky like rainbows or really unusual cloud formations, which we get a lot of here. it's very sweet. she always writes about them in her journal. we miss our gie!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Mabel doesn't want to die and go to heaven just yet either. I'd be pretty sad.
ReplyDeleteAlso I'm glad she is enjoying Kelsey the Kindercare bear that I got for teacher appreciation week.
I use to be afraid to die especially after my grandfather died, but I have found so much peace in God. He does what he thinks is best for me. HE REALLY DOES CARE. Your daughter maybe to young to understand but this is what helped me as I grew up.
ReplyDeleteOh.. It is hard when we can't say the right thing to ease their fears. My kids have dealt with it through the death of a friend's dog. We talk about how it is up in heaven with Heavenly Father and Jesus. Not all things work for all kids thouhg. The FHE idea sounds like a good one. Love the activity swap too! That is a great idea.
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