As parents we want the best for your children and we want to protect them from any harm. However, when grief descends upon the family our children will experience the pain that comes with losing someone they love. No matter what we do, our children will hurt. Parents are then left with the responsibility of modeling honest grief and understanding their children’s grief as best they can. For parents this latter part has to do with understanding how children grieve during different stages of development.

Early in my career as a counselor, “long ago and far away,” a mother came in to the first session and spoke about the recent death of her husband. While this was a difficult time for mom, who was dealing with her own grief, her biggest concern was for her elementary-age son. He had been very close to his father and missed his father a lot. Being a young parent and having no experience with grief, she was not sure what to do about her son’s difficulties in school or how to help her son with missing his father so much.