I was thinking about talking about how insane my sushi was last night – killed some shrimp tempura and chicken teriyaki sushi – but instead I wanted to talk about a conversation I had last night with my daughter.
We had just got done with her bath and she said something to me that she had never brought up before and it really made me think. Here is how it went…
Her: Daddy, what is going to happen to pappy if he doesn’t feel better?
Me (shocked that she would ask this and not sure how to respond): He will feel better sweetheart, no worries.
Her: I don’t want anything bad to happen to him.
Me: Sweetheart, if something would ever happen to pappy, he would be with all of his friends and with God in heaven. He would be safe and you would be able to whisper to him every day. He will never leave you.
Her: Where is heaven?
Me: It is a place people go when they are no longer here in our world. It the best place ever, but you can only go there at the right time. God knows when it is the right time.
So we went back and forth a few times about her and her pappy going to heaven and the conversation ended with her and myself and my wife all giving a big hug to each other realizing that what do you say to your daughter (or son) in times like this? How do you explain things like this?
This was an eye-opening experience for me because I have heard other people talk about how their kids bring up such things like this or death or how babies are made, etc., but when it is your time to step up to the plate and get through to your kid, it is a whole different story. She is three years old and god forbid anything would happen to her pappy because I truthfully don’t know how she would react. She LOVES her pappy. It would take a lot of explaining to do to let her know why she can’t see him anymore. It is a part of being a parent, but something that I guess none of us ever really want to do.
Times like this make you realize how fast your kids grow up and what goes through their heads. We try to keep her informed about life situations like this, but when it comes down to it, I’m sure the only thing she is thinking is that her pappy is sick and might not be around forever. Crushes me to think about that. It makes you think about life and death in a whole different way. Thank God every day that you are blessed to have kids.
I promise I won’t be so morbid next time…
HD (Homedaddys!)
