There was never going to be any easy way to explain to M what Mummy was now going through and what was very likely to happen in the coming days so I decided to stick to what had always worked her and that was to be honest in a way that she did understand.
I toiled with the idea of taking M in to see Mummy in hospital knowing that seeing her in a now very sick state could be really difficult but I wrestled with the idea that better to have given her that one last chance to see Mummy and get upset rather than not taking her and then in years to come she may have resented me for not having given her that last chance.
As it was M was okay on the day and Mummy was able to tell her how much she loved her.
I sat down and slowly reminded M about the lump in Mummy’s booby. I went on to explain that the lump had turned yucky and that it had gone somewhere else where the medicine didn’t work anymore so Mummy had got very sick and would not be able to come home.
How do you explain death to a child? I didn’t have a clue so again I was honest and related it to things that M did understand or know about. I explained that the following week there would be a big party for Mummy where she would be surrounded by her friends and family and she would turn into magic fairy dust which would turn into the brightest star in the sky.
