Explaining Mortality To A 2 Year Old

Repost from digital diary from 2002 *** *** ‘The dinosaur got red, yeah mom yeah?” “Yes, Josh. There’s blood inside the dinosaur” “The big T-Rex wants to eat other dinosaurs, yeah mom yeah?” “Yes, Josh. Sometimes dinosaurs eat dinosaurs. Like Joshua eat chicken, you know” “There’s red inside the chicken and dinosaur, yeah mom yeah?” “Yes, Josh. There’s blood inside the chicken and dinosaur. We are all living beings, we all have blood” “Mom, when dinosaur eat dinosaur, the other dinosaur die yeah, mom?” “Yes, Joshua” “When Joshua eat the chicken, the chicken die yeah mom?” “I’m afraid so. It has to be dead before we eat it, Josh” “It’s painful, yeah mom” Pause. “Look, there’s a spider on the wall, Josh! GO catch it!” “The chicken is painful yeah mom?” Pause. “You want to read a book now, Josh?” “No mom” “Yes, it’s painful” “The chicken and dinosaur die yeah mom, yeah?” “Yes, Josh. They die” It’s difficult to explain why we inflict pain on animals just because we have to or want to eat them. Kids might come up with questions we don’t really want to answer….or can’t answer.