Dealing with Losing Something They Value: Building Loss Resilience in Children
Last Tuesday, my 8-year-old realized her favorite bracelet was missing. She’d left it at the park, and despite our search, it was gone forever. Instead of immediately promising to buy a replacement, I remembered our family’s commitment to the Life-Ready approach. I sat with her through her grief and said, “Sometimes we lose things we love. It’s okay to feel sad.” The look of sadness mixed with growing acceptance on her face told me we had a perfect opportunity to practice handling loss in a low-stakes environment. ...