galvin schlepp: Toddlers and Death of a Family Pet

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Toddlers and Death of a Family Pet | Toddler Times

bobo the dog 300x199 Our Dog Died And The Toddlers Just Dont Understand If life is going to throw you crap ? it doesn?t throw you one turd, it throws you a pile of it.

This past weekend, in the midst of our move ? our beloved dog Bobo had to be put to sleep. My husband and I had picked him up from the pound a week after we got married, and for the last 14 years has been our favorite furry member of our family (no offense to our other dogs, but Bobo was the lovable one that smiled).

My heart broke and so did our other children, but for our 2 toddlers it?s been confusing. They don?t get it. Toddlers don?t understand death, at least my 1 and 2 year old don?t.

fam and bobo 238x300 Our Dog Died And The Toddlers Just Dont Understand

Our 2 year old loved Bobo to pieces. His name was one of his first words and well, seeing that Bobo is his favorite dog, he calls EVERY?dog Bobo. This is something he has always done. We never thought anything of it, until now. The last few days whenever we see ANY dog ? from a book to a TV show, we hear Izaiah?s toddler talk say ?Dere?s Bobo?. ?No baby, that?s not Bobo. Bobo is in heaven. ?And then I cry and my Izaiah looks at me like WHAT IS WRONG WITH HER!

In the midst of our sadness and talking thru what happened to Bobo with our other children, we have been saying ?Bobo? a lot. So what has happened? Of course, our 1 year old has now learned to say ?BOBO?. It?s 1 of a handful of words that Zeke repeats throughout the day. He doesn?t know better. It?s all too soon, and it still hurts.

I?ve never had a dog that I loved so much leave us. It?s hard on each member of the family and as confused as our toddlers are, I?m actually glad that they don?t get it. They don?t need to feel this grief. They have many years to have to feel pain, and for now they can just say his name, look at his photo and be oblivious to the fact that Bobo is now in heaven.

*cry* Come on God, we need some good in our lives. These last few weeks have sucked.

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Molly blogs parenting, geekery and technology at?digitalmomblog.com.