Prison. How to explain it to a child
By dandj929
@dandj929 (423)
United States
May 4, 2008 9:51am CST
My brother in law is in prison, again, and will not be out for about a year. He has been in before, but my daughter was just a baby then and did not know him. He was released when she was a year and a half. Now she is three years and and is noticing his absence. He has been away for about a month now.
He is a wonderful person, but just can't get and keep his life on the right track.
She keeps asking where her uncle is, when will he be back, why doesn't he come over to see her anymore, etc.
It is breaking our hearts because she absolutely adores him.
We don't know what to say to her about it. We don't want to lie to her.
How do you explain this to a child?
Any experience with this or advice?
Thank you all!
2 responses
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
4 May 08
You could explain it as He did something bad so hes being "Grounded" or a long period of time and cant come to play until hes not grounded anymore. That would only work if you've used grounding or being sent to her room for a while as a punishment for being bad.
Otherwise I'm not sure how i'd explain it.
1 person likes this
@ky1119 (698)
• United States
4 May 08
This is a hard one. My ex husband went to prison when my son was three. I told my son he had to go away for work, which was the biggest mistake I could have ever done. When we'd drive past his work, he'd ask "are we picking up daddy now?" It's my suggestion that you just tell he had to go away for a little while. I think she's too young to fathom what prison is about and why people go there.
