bye bye grandma!

I agree with the lovely ideas of a memory box and planting in the garden so the kids have somewhere to actual focus on when thinking about their grandma. It is though also important to remember that its not always necessary to 'lighten the mood'. Often this is something we as adults feel we should do because we cannot stop our children from hurting. Children need to be allowed to grieve too and to have this acknowledge by those closest to them and this way they grow to realise its OK to be upset when you experience any loss. Perhaps if you made a memory box, or something else together, you could share in your grief together before moving on to remember the truly happy times. There will be a time when it is so much more comfortable to do just that!

We recently said 'farewell' to my chidren's great nan. We brought each of the girls a helium balloon and we all tied our own special messages on to our individual balloons. My eldest wrote her own message and did not want to share what she had put, which was fine.Then we went outside and watched, cried and laughed as our balloons raced to send the messages to nanny. This worked so well and so many emotions were shared that afternoon, but for once they were not bottled up.