I've been working up the strength to have the following conversation with my four year old for a couple of weeks. The other day, I just sucked it up and sat Alex down. Here's how it went:
Me: Alex, I need to talk to you about something very important. I need you to listen carefully, okay?
Alex (looking concerned): What, Mommy?
Me: Grandma and Grandpa Sullivan won't be living together anymore. They still love you very much, but Grandma lives somewhere else now.
Alex: Oh. Are Grandma and Grandpa still in St. Louis?
Me: Grandpa is still in St. Louis, but Grandma lives near Aunt Dawnan and Uncle Corey now. We can still visit both of them.
Alex: Why is Grandma not in St. Louis?
Me: Well, sweetie, Grandma and Grandpa have lived together for a very long time. Sometimes, people just decide that they'd be happier living apart. But they still love you very much, and they're still your Grandma and Grandpa, no matter what.
Alex: Oh.
Me: (waiting for Alex to break down into hysterical sobs)
Alex: Mommy?
Me: Yes? (my heart catches in my throat)
Alex: Can I go watch Dora now?
Me: Oh, um, yeah, sure. Yes.
I wish we adults could roll with the punches as well as our kids...
Me: Alex, I need to talk to you about something very important. I need you to listen carefully, okay?
Alex (looking concerned): What, Mommy?
Me: Grandma and Grandpa Sullivan won't be living together anymore. They still love you very much, but Grandma lives somewhere else now.
Alex: Oh. Are Grandma and Grandpa still in St. Louis?
Me: Grandpa is still in St. Louis, but Grandma lives near Aunt Dawnan and Uncle Corey now. We can still visit both of them.
Alex: Why is Grandma not in St. Louis?
Me: Well, sweetie, Grandma and Grandpa have lived together for a very long time. Sometimes, people just decide that they'd be happier living apart. But they still love you very much, and they're still your Grandma and Grandpa, no matter what.
Alex: Oh.
Me: (waiting for Alex to break down into hysterical sobs)
Alex: Mommy?
Me: Yes? (my heart catches in my throat)
Alex: Can I go watch Dora now?
Me: Oh, um, yeah, sure. Yes.
I wish we adults could roll with the punches as well as our kids...
posted by The June Cleaver Diaries at 2:04 PM
7 Comments:
Damn straight, sister. I need a little 4-year-old's perspective myself right about now.
Man. Kids surprise us, don't they? I hope you're doing okay with the news.
A year ago, Wade's uncle passed away. Against Wade's suggestion that we not say anything until the kids noticed that Uncle Paul had stopped coming to holiday dinner, I insisted that we tell them. Charlie, who was three and a half, said, "Oh, that's so sad . . . Aunt Loretta will be sad, won't she?"
Henry (five and a half) said, "Okay. He died. Can I have some green playdough? I want to make a snake."
Kids. Sheesh.
Aren't kids amazing? Stuff like that is WAY harder for us. Glad you told him.
It is WAY harder for adults to deal with the realities of life than children.
Can I go have some Christmas cookies now?
Perhaps that should be our very adult response to all very important news for the next few weeks.
Hahahaha!! They are so unpredictable. Hope things are going well..
JUUUUUNNNNE! Where are you?
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