While adults certainly don’t enjoy funerals, most are accustomed to them, aware of their importance and significance in everyone’s lives. But Funerals in Fairfield CA don’t carry as much meaning for children, and parents are often not quite sure how to address a death with a child. When a funeral event comes up, parents are not quite sure if they should take the child to the funeral and graveside service or not, unsure at what age it’s appropriate to expose a child to these life long rituals.
One thing is for certain, children, regardless of their age, need a time and place to say goodbye to a loved one. They need loving parents and adults around them who will allow them to cry, or not cry, as they see fit. They may be confused, angry or even seemingly indifferent. They may simply just want to remember the loved one with stories. Children who are grieving simply need to know they are not alone. Including children in the rituals of death, from Funerals in Fairfield CA to the graveside service or the visitation at the funeral home is vital to how they will face future losses.
Children are sponges from a very young age, soaking in all that is around them. In simple, age-appropriate terms, explain to them while funerals are a time of sadness, they are also a ritual our society goes through to show respect for the person who has died and for the family and friends who loved them to come together and comfort one another. It’s a time to say goodbye to that person, even if they can’t physically hear us in person. It’s also a perfect time to explain any religious or spiritual significance your family places on death and the afterlife.
Children will lead the way in showing adults how much grieving they are capable of conducting. As far as actual ages where experts advise it’s conducive to take a child, the guideline is to leave infants at home. Children aged 3-6 are only just beginning to understand death and do not truly understand its permanence. While they can certainly be taken to funerals, understand they may be come bored with the proceedings. Do not take this personally. Children over the age of seven understand the permanence and should be given the choice of attending.
