My 4 year old said, "you know waht mommy, I'll die when I am seven years old". First time, I missed a beat for a moment. Horrified and in total fear, I explained, no baby - we do not talk about death. She said okey mommy. Today, driving her to school, I heard the same sentence repeated again from the back seat. Uncanny it is and gives me shivers to think...but I wonder where she has gotten this idea from.
I honestly do not know how to react. SImply told her, honey we all die oneday, but we do not talk about it. She asked why. What do I say to a almost four year old about death? I remember my no 7 yrs old talking about it. He simply asked me about death after listening too all of us talk about my young cousin who passed away. It was easy for me then, I told him people die when they get 100 years old. And he asked why she went to God early. My naive explnation of God does not want some special people to suffer ill health, sufficed at that point.
How can I explain to my 4 yr old that she is not supposed to nurse that idea and repeat the this conversation? After all I understand our life is so ephemeral. We neither know when we come and when we go nor where. WIth the kids of disasters on earth, tsunamis, earth quakes, fires and other horrendous crimes that take peoples life away everyday, I know we are not invincible - nor do I want to be that. But sometimes when it comes to unknown - I think ignoring the inevitable is better for our life on earth than fretting over.
So why does she make such statements and unleash such powerful sense of fear in me?
