'i dont have a daddy, he is hospical'

[misdee]

says dd2 today.

and also 'grandma not like me?' when i said that we were going to see her.

oh misdee poor your dd2, and poor you, im sure if you explain she does have a daddy a great daddy who loves her so much she will feel better.

sorry, dd2 is just 3yrs old, and lately we havent seen grandma much, she has picked up dd1 from school a few times on the way to the hospital after i have been with dd2+3 during school hours, so dd2 feels she is missing out. dd1+2 did stay for tea this evening with grandma so is a bit happier.

Bless her, it's hard for little ones to understand isn't it. I'm sure she knows that Daddy loves her very much, but she misses him. Hopefully he'll be home and well soon and you can get on with a normal family life.

Aw bless. That must have been heartbreaking
thinking of you all Misdee

how do i explain it properly to a 3yr old? i have told her that daddyis there to get better and will come home, but not now. she isnt tearful at all, but just comes out with these little comments.

He's been there for such a big part of her life misdee. It must be so hard for her, for all of you

Misdee, as you know DH plays a lot with you DD2 when she comes round, one day she called him daddy while my kids were shouting it, this made DH uncomfortable and he explained to her that he isn't her daddy, that her daddy is in hospital and loves her. I think she is just missing her daddy being around.

she is very confused atm i know. she ius definatly missing her daddy and a strong male role figure. she wants daddy who can play, its juts so hard on her. i am just oping that he is out before it affects dd3 as well.

Poor wee thing, and poor you/Peter.

If it helps at all, they are astonishingly resillient when they are little. This time last year, me and dd1 were living apart from my dh (long story)This lasted for about 5 mnths.Within a few days of him being back she had completely acepted it, and now never mentions it - I'm sure she's forgotten. Hopefully your younger two will forget quickly too.

Oh Misdee, that must have been so hard for you to hear. Maybe she meant 'daddy's not here at the moment' but the words she used are just her way of expressing that?

If it is any comfort, my father worked away from home all week when I was your dd's age, and I used to get excited when Ronnie Barker came on TV, thinking he was daddy (there was a faint resemblance, mainly the hair and the podginess). I really did think that's what daddy was doing while he was away (although he tried to convince us he was a James Bond-style secret agent, LOL).

It must be very hard for her to make sense of it. I think I've heard of children's books that tell stories about parents being away in hospital - hope someone else remembers more about them so you can get hold of one.