I took dear old Tom to the vet again this week (some of you might remember the sag from before) and she has suggested that it might now be the right time but has left it with us obviously to make the final decision and decide when the time is right. I, foolishly it now seems, mentioned to the DCs what the vet had said and explained about Tom perhaps 'being put to sleep'. 4 year old DD was cool, thought it was a good idea as 'he cant even get on to the cushion anymore can he mum?' and that was that. But DS, age 8, was inconsolable. He cried for the next 4 hours and trying to get him to sleep was awful. A friend has since told me that it might be because of the 'put to sleep to die' scenario that i had described earlier meaning that he was scared to go to sleep in case he died .

Anyway, sorry I'm waffling rather. The thing is, I think now I am being cruel to Tom by keeping him here for my sake when actually, he has had a great life for over 15 years and he now has a rubbish quality of life. But what to tell the children? Shall I take Tom to the vet while they are sat school and tell a little fib about how I came home from shopping and found that Tom had died while I was gone? Or should I try and explain about what the vet can do in a better way and tell them the truth. And should we talk about it over the weekend and try and get DS calmer about it or do i just get it sorted asap?