Hoping for a little advice.

Coping with bereavement
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Hello, I hope I have put this is the right category but I wasn’t sure where it would fit. I am hoping for a little advice in helping my 7 year old son deal with his grief.

March 2021 my father in law (his grandad) passed away suddenly. This is the first loss he has experienced and he is still seems to be struggling quite a bit with it. They were very close and did alot together. To add to the upset it happened on my son’s birthday. The first year was very hard (as expected) however he still frequently gets upset on an evening. He had previously told me that he talks to grandad while he was at school and this seemed to help him, however this has recently stopped and I have noticed his behaviour has changed. We are filling in a scrapbook together as he has told me he is worried about forgetting him. And he has a notebook where he can write down any thoughts he may not want to say out loud. He can be fine all day and will suddenly have a meltdown over a small situation. Once everything has calmed down and I can get him to talk to me it is 9/10 because he has been thinking about grandad or is missing him.

I’m just hoping to maybe speak to someone who has been in the same situation who might share their experience of it or for any tips on how to help him or if I’m doing all I can.

Thank you for reading.

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Hi @Beccib91, have you spoken to his school about how he is coping and that his grandad dying has been very hard for him emotionally.
I work in a school and they have a school counselor, in fact my youngest granddaughter is seeing one at the moment.
Schools are very good these days with helping our young people, at our school they also have two therapy dogs.
Sending love to you both
Debbie X

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I haven’t to be honest, they are aware and have said they will support him in class if he needs it. I will contact them and ask the question if they have someone he could speak to. It may help talking to someone outside of the situation. Thank you. This is something will look into.x

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I hope they have someone to help him or at least point you in the right direction. X

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Beccib91

My daughters school offered group counselling for my 12 year old daughter when my mum died suddenly 3 years ago.

In the end my daughter chose not to go as she chose to speak to her friends and deal with things her own way. She still gets upset though, particularly on special anniversaries or when she wishes mum could see something she has achieved.

It’s an awful situation and I can say now that time does help but it’s hard to accept when things are raw.

Wishing you luck.

Cheryl

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