Putting down pets and children

something i noticed when playing with our young nephews over the holiday, kids understand the concept of death quite early on, in this situation, nephew has very limited speaking skills but still knew of death.
was curious where/how he'd known of this, or more specifically, how old he was when he'd picked up on it, but its kinda an odd question to pose to the inlaws

it'd be entirely different when its a loved one or family pet that is associated with that "death" concept of course, but still. had me curious & thinking of this thread

 

knowing of death and understanding it are two very different things.

 

Yeah just be honest and straight with your boy..
Having been a kid with pets, it gets harder as you get older. Iget more upset now than i did as a kid..
As a kid I bounced back pretty quick and was looking for the next pet fairly soon after.
Just trust your boy to make sense of it in his own way and talk to him if he wants to.
Don't force anything.

 

Our bunny died recently, had a little burial for him.
Kids 5 and 7 were absolutely devastated, so they understood the concept of death and not being able to see bunny again.
Kid 3 was sad and knew bunny was gone, but didn't understand that bunny wouldn't come back.