I don't have the first clue how to explain death to a 4 year old. What little knowledge I have on the topic has come from experience, and that doesn't fit nicely into a bedtime story.
In a conversation about why people stay at hospitals, I told the story of my tonsillectomy. It was at age five, and it seemed like something she could relate to. Then she blindsided me with questions about my parents. She asked if 'grandma and grandpa' (the set she knows) were my parents. I told her, no, and that she's never met them - sidestepping the reason why.
She said 'show me a picture of them.....show me picture of them on your phone'. My brain froze up processing the fact that my parents were effectively gone before smartphones and Facebook. I did have a picture - posted about 2 years ago on this blog, where I feared about this very situation.
She likely has some understanding of death. My sidestepping either confused her more about the topic, or created some other misunderstanding, which may well be worse.
I will explain this to the best of my abilities, once I figure out the words.
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