There will be times in your new life where people will say things that do not help. In fact they may even make you feel worse.
People will tell you that your child is in a better place, that this happened for a reason. They may tell you that God needed another angel. People may even say that it was for the best. These statements can make you feel awful. It is more than likely that this person is trying to help you. They may not have been in a situation where a baby or child has died before. They are more than likely very clueless. This does not make them a bad person, they just simply do not understand what you are going through. Never the less this can be very painful for you.
It has been years since Christian died now, but there is still always somebody who just says the wrong thing. In the very early days it seemed as though it would happen on a daily basis. Recently at a party somebody asked me if we would try for a boy since we had three girls. I explained to the woman that we had a little boy and that he died the day he was born. The woman was shocked by what I told her and she said she was sorry. She then let out a nervous giggle. Some people just have no idea how to handle these situations.
I found that if I focus on the silly things people say to me about Christian dying then I end up in a deeper hole of grief than I actually need to be. As hard as it is, try to let clueless comments roll off your back, try not to focus your precious energy on them.
If somebody is clearly being insensitive, as in telling you to get over it and it is time to move on, do not be afraid to tell them how what they have said has made you feel. The death of your child is not something you will get over. I honestly believe I will never get over Christian dying, as to me that would mean that I will stop loving him.
A common question you may be asked…
How Many Children Do You Have?
This question will affect me for the rest of my life and it will affect you too. I do not believe there is a wrong or right answer here. Whatever you feel comfortable telling that person is just fine. Do not feel guilty if you feel you can’t mention that you have lost a child. My friend Angie wrote that her daughter is not a casual conversation. I love that. My son is not a casual conversation either. He is a precious, human being. I pick and choose who I share him with. A lot of the time I say that I have 4 children. Sometimes I don’t even tell people that Christian died. He is still my son. I gave birth to 4 children and I am proud to say that is how many I have regardless of how many are living here on Earth with me.
Facebook, Twitter and other social networks…..
These places can be wonderful in your healing process. But in saying that there will always be people on your friends list that may upset you with their status updates. Whether it is them whining about their living children or just being plain silly. Try to remember that these places are for people to have fun. While you are mourning the loss of your precious child life still goes on for others. If possible try to join some support groups on whatever website out you are using. This way you will be able to find other friends who understand what you are going through and you can use these websites to help you rather than upset you. Another good idea is to hide people from your news feeds who tend to upset you with their posts. If people are upsetting you on your friends list, there is nothing wrong with culling your list. You may even want to write to the person to tell them about the place you are in at the moment and that it is of no offense to them.
All in all I am a big lover of Facebook. I have many connections on there and this has been wonderful in my healing process.
