Everything Kaitlyn refers to these days has to do with death or something dying. I know she doesn't get the meaning of it. How do I explain it or is she still too young to understand? Today she came up to me after I was on the phone with the maintenance company to come out for a repair. I told her a man was going to come fix our bathtubs. She said "Is he going to kill me?" I know she picked up the "kill" and "dead" word when I was trying to explain to her not to squish the roly poly's she's been catching but I know she has no concept of what it really means.

By Reds9298 on Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 02:58 pm:

I haven't used the words killed or dead yet with Natalie. (At least that I know of) We try not to bother the nice bugs because they are our "friends", but I will kill spiders. I just say I "squished him and he's all gone now". The first few times I did that this summer, she seemed really thoughtful about it, like she wasn't sure about it, but we really didn't take it any farther. I just reiterated to her that he's all gone and she was just happy about that I think.

Have you had any recent deaths in your family that she may have overhead conversations about?

Sometimes, just blowing things off is a better way. Nat is younger than Kaitlyn of course, but really I don't see us talking about death and dying until the topic presents itself in a big way. That's strange that she would say that.

By Nicki on Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 05:57 pm:

Mellisa, about a year ago, Lara started saying "this is dead, that is dead..." while engaging in imaginary play. I was worried. Like Deanna, I had not brought up this subject. Well, I was watching Little Bear with her one day on Noggin. This episode dealt with Emily pretending her doll was "dead" and the characters proceeded to have a ceremony to bury her doll! I was surprised. I never imagined a show like this would go into this subject. We are so careful about what we allow her to watch. So my point is, my dh was exposed to this word at least once, and in a way I never exected. And, like any new thing, she seemed to use the word a lot for awhile, then it was over. I'm not sure if this is the case with Kaitlyn, just sharing our experience. I'm happy to say this stage passed with Lara.

By Reds9298 on Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 08:58 pm:

I can't believe that was on Little Bear Nicki!!! That's kind of what I meant by blowing it off...like she's just using the term and maybe reinforcing it by talking to her so much about it is the opposite way to go, you know? Like just skim over it when she says it and see how long before it phases itself out.