Tonight as I was putting Braden to bed he asked me where Steve was, and before I could answer he said he knew. "Down there" Braden said pointing to the space between the bed and the wall.
"No baby Steve isn't down there." I showed him. We pulled the bed out to check. That didn't stop the questions. He didn't understand what happened to his friend. I decided not to lie. I told him that I had him in my room, in my closet. He seemed to calm down once he realized that Steve was in an identifiable location. But he persisted, wanting to know why he couldn't have him. I told him that he was a big boy now and that he didn't need a lovey. That Steve was taking a rest. Tears weld up in his eyes. The thought that he may never seen his friend again was too much. (truthfully there was no proper goodbye). "We can see him in the morning, how does that sound?" Braden nodded his head in agreement.
I had not anticipated this... I thought we were free and clear. But as I looked into Braden's teary eyes tonight I realized that he does need to say good-bye... have closure and greive the loss of Steve and embrace moving on.
Any suggestions on how to go about that?
2 comments:
Oh, crap!
I was all for supporting the clean break by faking his departure. But John said maybe he needs more time with a sleep buddy. So we're a split vote household. Heh. I guess it's the season for that kind of thing.
I haven't been through this yet -- Coley's blankie is falling to pieces and it will soon just be a few strands, so I will just let her keep it until it disinigrates. So I am no help.
But my heart just breaks for him. Bye, Steve!
I do think you shouldn't bring it out again unless you're going to give it back to him. That would make it too hard, I think.
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