NOTES FROM GRIEF

A practical, age-by-age guide to talking with children about death, from honest language for 4-6 year-olds to respecting a teenager's need for space.

Some children process grief through conversation. Others don't want to talk about it at all, and that's a valid way to grieve too. Here's how to support a quieter griever.

Some moments in a child's grief don't have a good answer. Here's what to say — and what to simply be present for — when words genuinely aren't enough.

"But why did she die again?" It's normal for a grieving child to ask the same question over and over. Here's why repetition is part of how children build understanding.

"What happens after we die?" is one of the biggest questions a child can ask, and one of the hardest to answer honestly. Here's how to respond without overpromising or shutting the conversation down.

The words you choose matter more than most adults expect. Here's a plain-language guide to what to say, what to avoid, and why the difference isn't just semantics.

How to talk to children honestly about a pet's death, handle guilt and hard questions, and decide when it's time for a new pet.