Funeral Homes: A Guide

If you have recently loss a parent and you have children of your own, you may be wondering about how you can prepare and include your kids in the funeral service. While it might be tempting to keep your children away from the funeral service, it can, in fact, be healthy to include them as much as possible. Doing so will allow your children to develop an understanding of loss and death while also being able to mourn the passing of a grandparent. Read on to discover more about involving children in a funeral.

Speak with your children and explain

You should speak with your children before the funeral so you can explain what has happened. You may wish to wait a day or two until you have begun to process your own emotions before you raise this subject with your children. You should be absolutely clear about what will happen at the funeral and the importance of saying goodbye to loved ones. At all times, you should reinforce the point that death is a natural conclusion to life and that it should not be feared. If you are religious, you may wish to include some religious stories about what happens to the soul after death. Once you have explained everything to your kids, you should let them decide if they want to attend or not. You should never force your child to attend a funeral. If they do not wish to attend, you should respect this and organise a childminder.

Allow your children to contribute to the funeral service

Attending a funeral can give your child the chance to express their own grief at the death of a grandparent. Therefore, it is important that you do all you can to include them in the service. While it is unlikely a child will want to give a reading at the service, they can contribute in other ways. For example, your child may wish to write a letter to their grandparent, which can be placed inside the coffin, or they may wish to paint a picture, which can be displayed at the funeral. When you make contact with the funeral director, you should inform them that your children wish to be part of the service. The funeral director will be happy to do all they can to include them in an appropriate way.

If you would like to find out more about including children in a funeral, you should contact a funeral director today.