My son's rodent died recently. He was devastated. He mourned as you and I might mourn a close friend. I had read that it is good for children to experience the death of a pet without parents jumping in to save them. (e.g. going out immediately and buying a new one, or trying to take their minds off of it with games or presents or trips.) In experiencing mourning on this scale, children learn that grief is something that with time and hugs can be overcome and lived through.

This made sense to me, so I escorted my sons and a neighborhood friend out to the back yard for the rodent's funeral. He wept as he dug the grave and drove the cross into the ground, but the real grieving came as each one of us said, "Good bye. Thank-you for being my friend." I was asked if there was an animal heaven and said that I hoped so. It was a sad time, even I got wrapped up into the sadness.

Experiencing this helped my children learn many things. My sons now know that they are strong enough to survive sadness. They also understand a little about funerals and mourning. They know that dead is gone from this earth and that family and friends can help. They know that time heals.