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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Granny took toddler to the cemetery

200 replies

MrsMoosickle · 05/11/2012 23:08

Eeek! I might perhaps be a tad unreasonable but I'm not best pleased.

3 year old DD has been at the local cemetery with Granny and has come home with tales of little babies in heaven and teddies on trees and wind chimes they can hear from heaven.

DH thinks that's ok, I feel a bit sad that she's even thought about it at such a tiny age.

OP posts:
expatinscotland · 06/11/2012 00:05

Read your posts just fine. Death happens. People live this nightmare every day, including the children of the family. What's horrifying to me is how ridiculous adults are about death, considering its certainty for everyone.

My child, and everyone in the large cemetary where what is left of her resides, is a human being to did what every single one of us will do one day: die.

Her brother, who was 3 when she died, is quite accepting of this.

It's everyone else's attitude we have to deal with.

expatinscotland · 06/11/2012 00:06

You have an excellent point, it's just not the one you think it is.

mrsmplus3 · 06/11/2012 00:06

Cheers brag! Phew, I really have poked my nose in on the wrong thread here!
To be fair to me, there was not one single mention of losing a child in the opening statement. I have no experience on that so would never choose to chat about that.

Rindercella · 06/11/2012 00:06

The point is mrsm that some people here can't just turn off MN and forget all about it. The loss, the grief, is with us always.

I feel like I should somehow be apologising to you for upsetting your sensibilities and making you read sad things. And at this time of night too!

missymoomoomee · 06/11/2012 00:08

My little boy died from SIDS before my other babies were born. I had him cremated and he is in the baby garden. DS had been going there more or less since birth to visit, as did DD1 when she came along (as we all do now too).

I had people telling me it was wrong, and that it was morbid, and that I shouldn't tell them about their brother and do a 'big reveal' when they were older, but I never had to because he was just always part of my family anyway.

I went into hospital to have DD2, the kids were excited to have a new sister, we had bought clothes, a cot, a pram all the usual baby stuff. 2 weeks after I had my very ill little girl I had to tell my children we were turning off her life support, they didn't understand because it sounded to them like we had a choice. They had to have me tell them their sister had gone up to be with their brother and feel like she didn't love them enough to stay here. They had to witness me packing all her things away and not understanding why, they went with us to put her ashes with her brothers.

I've had, and still get regular questions about their brother and sister that breaks my heart because they shouldn't have to deal with any of this. They draw pictures of us as a family playing in the park or whatever and their brother and sister in the clouds watching, they always include them in school work and wherever else they can. Its bloody heartbreaking they have had to deal with such pain and I can't fix it for them.

Explaining that children sometimes die and dealing with a few questions about it would be a bloody relief compared to the daily torture that is trying not to cry in front of my children when they ask, and explain to them what happened and why over and over again.

To those who would be horrified and don't think its the right place etc you should think yourselves very very lucky that you have that choice. Far too many of us don't and are thrown into it well before we are ready to be talking to our children about death.

thebody · 06/11/2012 00:09

Mrsm, unfortunately if you read the posts you will see that death doesn't conveniently fall into place like teething and weaning. Death does happen, suddenly, unexpectedly and there's not a dam thing you as parents can do about it.

mrsmplus3 · 06/11/2012 00:11

How can I argue back with grieving mothers. Goodnight Smile

expatinscotland · 06/11/2012 00:12

Excellent post, missy.

RyleDup · 06/11/2012 00:12

Feck, you have nothing to apologise for Rindercella. These threads really just make people crawl out from the woodwork with their shitty little thoughts and no consideration for the bigger picture.

expatinscotland · 06/11/2012 00:13

Yep, let's just all go live in a sanitised world where death doesn't happen except to other people, or very old people. I'd like to live there, too.

thebody · 06/11/2012 00:13

Missy, crying for you, just not bloody right or fair chik.

expatinscotland · 06/11/2012 00:16

There's no such thing as fair in this world. Sad

Sorry, missy. I'm only of those lunatic 'grieving mothers', too. If people stopped to think - but oh, it's so horrifying! - they'd realise that that is a life sentence. You never stop truly grieving for your children if they die before you.

sallysparrow157 · 06/11/2012 00:16

When I was tiny we used to walk through the local cemetary frequently. There were a few graves of tiny babies who died within the first few days of life or not much older. I as a 4 or 5 yr old was interested, appropriately upset but not horrified by this. My mum died when I was 6 and was buried in this cemetary - when we put flowers on her grave I always took one or two for the baby graves.
I work in paediatric intensive care - I don't have kids but my colleagues do and are open about the fact that they look after poorly babies and very occasionally even little children die

BooyhooRemembering · 06/11/2012 00:17

"To be fair to me, there was not one single mention of losing a child in the opening statement. I have no experience on that so would never choose to chat about that. "

it says in the OP " has come home with tales of little babies in heaven and teddies on trees and wind chimes they can hear from heaven."

did it not occur to you that there would be people on MN that would have lost children and might read this thread and see the comments you posted?

expatinscotland · 06/11/2012 00:19

sally, my daughter died in PICU. She was 9 and had complications from treatment for acute myeloid leukaemia.

BooyhooRemembering · 06/11/2012 00:20

"How can I argue back with grieving mothers. Goodnight "

Shock try with a bit of sensitivity or empathy.

mrsmplus3 · 06/11/2012 00:20

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SirBoobAlot · 06/11/2012 00:21

Out of line, MrsM.

MrsMoosickle · 06/11/2012 00:22

Missy, You are right of course, I understand and appreciate your view point. I do think myself lucky and will consider the bigger picture before posting again.

OP posts:
BooyhooRemembering · 06/11/2012 00:22

Wow!

mrsmplus3 · 06/11/2012 00:24

Boo hoo- are you insane? I've been extremely sensitive! You're misinterpreting my posts! Just read it, it's pretty clear!
You're all just going mad at me. I can have an opinion to the op. IM NOT TALKING ABOUT DEATH OR GRAVEYARDS!!! IT'S THE FACT GRANNY TOOK IT UPON HERSELF TO INTRODUCE THE TOPIC TO THE CHILD INSTEAD OF LEAVING THAT TO THD MOTHER!!!

Rindercella · 06/11/2012 00:25

Just sarcastic mrsm Wink. I am generally not a terribly bitchy person.

You stated earlier that you were leaving this thread as you had no experience... and now you are questioning people's assumptions about your experience?

You really don't like to be wrong do you?

BooyhooRemembering · 06/11/2012 00:27

so it's sensitive to imply that you cant argue with grieving mothers? as if they are incapable of logic and reason? as if their grief makes their points invalid?

mrsmplus3 · 06/11/2012 00:29

Ach whatever Cinderella, you know exactly what I'm saying.

expatinscotland · 06/11/2012 00:30

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