"Who took care of you when you were a little girl?"
"Grandma and grandpa?"
"Who took care of grandpa and grandma?"
"Their parents."
"Where are their parents?"
"They died."
"Can they come back?"
"No, they can't."
"But I want them to come back. Am I going to die?"
"Yes. But not for a very, very long time. You're still a little boy and you have a long life ahead of you. Not until you're very old."
"I don't want to get old!"
"Neither do I."
Laughter.
"Where do you go when you die?"
"Well, some people believe you go to heaven."
"Where's heaven?"
"It's up in the clouds."
"But I don't wanna go in the sky!"
"Heaven doesn't have to be in the sky. It could be wherever you want it to be. It's a really happy place that people go after they die."
Pause.
"Some people believe that you come back as another person after you die."
"I want to come back as me."
"Maybe you can."
"I want to come back as me and grow up again."
"Maybe you will."
"Okay. Mommy?"
"Yeah?"
"I don't want to be old."
"I know."
"Mommy?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
"I love you too."
Sleep.
We've been dealing with questions like this from Sam ever since last March when my grandma, his great-grandma, died. I think at Ari's age, they can get that death happens, but happens a long time in the future to people who are very old. Only problem is that you have to be careful about calling people old then...we made that mistake once or twice...:-) I think you handled it great, though, and he's super smart and asking great questions about it!
ReplyDeleteHa ha Ari The Second. That would be awesome!
ReplyDeleteAwww. He's so inquisitive. I like that he wants to be reincarnated as Ari The Second.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is three. I answer her questions about death and spirituality as honestly as I can and hope for the best. I think it's all we can do.
ReplyDelete