Oh no, sad news today I’m afraid.. one of our lovely guinea pigs has died and worse still, it is my three-year old’s very best friend in the whole wide world and I just can’t be the one to break her little heart..
I know having pets is supposed to be good for children to teach them responsibilities and also to teach them about life and death itself and all the bits in between.. but I just can’t face telling her that her furry little friend is no more. I know without doubt that she would be absolutely heart-broken and I just can’t do it to her. My elder children know of the bad news already as my son was the one to actually find the poor little mite and they are both fine with it. But I think at ten and eleven years old, they are just that bit older where although they may be sad, they can accept the bad news.
The guinea pigs were claimed by my three year old upon their arrival to us as ‘hers’ and the elder children have very little to do with them. She feeds them and dotes on them every day – she can literally sit for hours with them on her knee just stroking them. They love her just as much as she loves them too and squeak with delight when they see her. And the poor little squiggly pig that is no more, just happens to be her favourite one.. So sad..
So rightly or wrongly, when my little darling goes to nursery this afternoon, we are going to the pet shop to hopefully buy a replacement looky-likey guinea pig and hopefully she will never have to find out the awful heart-breaking truth. Of course, we did consider the fact that we may not be able to find an exact looky-likey and if that’s the case, we have come up with an elaborate story involving the beloved guinea pig going to visit her relatives in South America while her cousin comes to stay with us for a while to keep our other furry friend company
I don’t know if this is right or wrong.. I’m certainly not the first parent to have done this and I’m sure that I won’t be the last. I just can’t be one to break such awful news and I only want to protect her. She’s only three and she is such a loving, sensitive, little thing and I honestly can’t convey just how much she loved this little guinea pig.
So what do you think? Do you think I am wrong and that I should use this news as a life lesson as it were? Or would you do the same and lie to protect your little one from heartbreak too?
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