Harry the hamster
I'm afraid Harry the hamster is no more. He died a few weeks ago, before I started this blog so I haven't mentioned it. But Esme was asking me lots of awkward questions this morning so this prompted another blog post!
Harry wasn't the average hamster; cute, cuddly and sweet, he was more like a meat eating beast and would draw blood from you if you even attempted to put your hand into his cage! This, coupled with the fact that I am most definately NOT a pet person meant that I tolerated him (just) rather than liked having him around! But surprisingly I was a little sad when he left us.
Now, how do you explain to a 3 year old that a hamster has died? I started off saying that he was ill and has now gone to heaven and won't be coming back. I immediately thought this was probably wrong as around the same time Esme had a really bad cold and I didn't want her to think that when you are ill you might go away and not come back.
So I said that he had grown wings and gone up to the sky. She promtly started crying saying she didn't want the birds to take Harry up to the sky (she has a dislike for birds). Hhhmmm, I settled on saying that he is now an angel with wings and he won't be coming back.
This morning we were looking out the window and she was asking where the snow has gone. So I was trying to explain that it is now getting warmer which means the snow is melting. She was then telling me that it is not windy because the tree wasn't moving. This obviously made her think about Harry and she was saying; Harry has gone up to the sky. When is he coming back? I explained again that he was old and won't be coming back. So she then asks, why didn't we take him to the doctor? Well because he was already very old and it was too late?!
Oh dear, I don't think I am handling the awkward questions very well. Why isn't there a manual for dealing with these things?
At least I am hoping that by the time I get questions like "Mamma, where do babies come from?" I'll have gone through a few more years of parenting and will easier be able to answer!
RIP Harry the hamster
Harry wasn't the average hamster; cute, cuddly and sweet, he was more like a meat eating beast and would draw blood from you if you even attempted to put your hand into his cage! This, coupled with the fact that I am most definately NOT a pet person meant that I tolerated him (just) rather than liked having him around! But surprisingly I was a little sad when he left us.
Now, how do you explain to a 3 year old that a hamster has died? I started off saying that he was ill and has now gone to heaven and won't be coming back. I immediately thought this was probably wrong as around the same time Esme had a really bad cold and I didn't want her to think that when you are ill you might go away and not come back.
So I said that he had grown wings and gone up to the sky. She promtly started crying saying she didn't want the birds to take Harry up to the sky (she has a dislike for birds). Hhhmmm, I settled on saying that he is now an angel with wings and he won't be coming back.
This morning we were looking out the window and she was asking where the snow has gone. So I was trying to explain that it is now getting warmer which means the snow is melting. She was then telling me that it is not windy because the tree wasn't moving. This obviously made her think about Harry and she was saying; Harry has gone up to the sky. When is he coming back? I explained again that he was old and won't be coming back. So she then asks, why didn't we take him to the doctor? Well because he was already very old and it was too late?!
Oh dear, I don't think I am handling the awkward questions very well. Why isn't there a manual for dealing with these things?
At least I am hoping that by the time I get questions like "Mamma, where do babies come from?" I'll have gone through a few more years of parenting and will easier be able to answer!
RIP Harry the hamster
Kommentarer
Trackback
