One thing I have learned since having kids is how resilient and accepting they are of the concept of death. Our boys were quite young when they lost their gran

One thing I have learned since having kids is how resilient and accepting they are of the concept of death. Our boys were quite young when they lost their grandfather (my dad) and their grandmother (my wife's mum) to long term illness. When talking to them about it, they were surprisingly pragmatic about the whole thing, and they even shifted the conversation to our own (my wife and I) mortality and the fact that we wouldn't be around forever. I think it is a far healthier approach, and it helps the grieving process. I recall even in my childhood when my parents hid the facts that the family dogs had passed etc. - I always had some residual resentment towards them for that - the fact I couldn't say goodbye properly or that they thought I was too emotionally ill equipped to deal with it.