Raising kids is a never ending surprise. You never know what they are going to say or ask. I try to shield my kid from my job as much as possible, he never saw me in uniform until he was 4, and here more recently, unfortunately, he’s seen dark side of what being a police officer is. He’s seen me happy and seen me cry, he’s seen me prepare for a funeral and then a promotion. For the first time in his life, I’m not home to put him to bed, and we both hate it.

Lately though, he’s been asking about death, A LOT. He asks about my dad that passed away 6 years ago, they never had the opportunity to meet since Lane was born a year later, but they share the same interest. The questions he asks are concerning, at least to first time parents, and some of the things he says are concerning. He’s a very happy kid, but sometimes he says things that shock you to the core.

Is this just kids being curious? Should I find a therapist to take him too?

FWIW, my 5 year old is currently regularly threatening to cut people's heads off with an ax. He is not my first, and I am not concerned. No clue at all if I am doing this parenting thing right, but thought I'd share. Kids are weird.

I raised 3. They are naturally curious about death because to them it is a concept that they just can't get their hands around. They only know life and the living. On their peripheral is this vague thing known as death. They haven't experienced it indirectly due to their stage in life. He may be ready to learn about the physical side of death from a trip to the cemetery where you can explain everything to him at your father's graveside. You can give a look up and explain to him that his soul lives in Heaven. That's a happy thought for him to dwell on. There are still parts of life/death and Heaven/Hell that adults don't understand, so he's at a natural progression of trying to grasp a difficult concept.

Therapist? Not unless there are behaviors that are alarming. Asking questions, to me that's not alarming.

Wade, without knowing the questions he is asking it’s hard to know if a therapist is needed or not.

I would would bet more than likely he is just curious and wants to know how things work. I would answer his questions as best you can and think is appropriate. I would also ask him why he wants to know. I think the best thing a parent can do is let their child know they can come to them with any questions they have and you will answer best you can.

Death is a part of life and many parents try to shield their children from this part of life I completely understand with your line of work that this is a REAL reality and how you might want to shield him from this. Just let him know that you will always be there for him and he can ask you anything.

Good luck and I think you are doing a good job.

My daughter was curious as well. She was barely 3 when she lost here Nana (my mother) and she couldn’t understand and it jerked a tear from me that she couldn’t.

I don’t think it’s anything to be alarmed about personally.

My dad’s urn is on a shelf in our living room, he knows about it. He knows that he is up in heaven watching him. We’ve had these discussions about the time we had to put our dogs down 3 years ago.

What’s concerning, is when he ask when he can die, or when he says he wants to die to go meet my dad and see his dogs again. We had a miscarriage 2 years ago, he asks about going to see his sister.

Wade, tell that boy his sister wants him to grow up, have kids, and name one after her.

I had to do that. There is no greater curse than outliving your children.

Start at 2:48:00 and listen through 2:53:00....this will give you just enough background on him and what he went through.

Having little ones myself, this rang with me hard and will add it to our techniques with our children as the situations present themselves.

Kids are smart, but need it straight.

The young man could be starting to make connections to the animals you are hunting being killed/dead and implications of death in humanity. Hunting allows a natural bridge to explain how that works in humans, minus eating the deceased, as that would be just plain gross, lol. Seriously, just juvenile curiosity at work.

We've got a nephew that threatened that to my mother-in-law over 30 years ago at a fancy restaurant dinner. You'd have to get to know my mother-in-law to understand my point of view of this event.

Yessir, that thing about the ax is a bit more concerning than a kid asking about death. Better put the axes and hatchets away for a while.

Some of the stuff they come up with is based on something they saw on television or in a movie. Talking with them when they need/want to talk about serious stuff, in terms they can understand, usually will satisfy them...for awhile at least.

Would t bother me. He doesn’t understand all the way yet and the permanency of death. Just answer the questions you can as good as you can tell him you love him and he’s got a lot of life to live. Kids are all different. Some raised te same way same rules expectations etc. are completely different. I have a 10 year old and a 6 year old and in many respects they could not be more different.

How old is he? Sorry if I missed that.

Lane is 5.

Wade is it possible he is asking about death since you took him hunting?