Mia: Look Mommy, it's a picture of Daddy with a kitty on his lap.
Mommy: It sure is, babe.
Mia: What's the kitty's name?
Mommy: That's Callie.
Mia: Callie lived with us when I was a baby.
Mommy: That's right.
Mia: Mommy, where is Callie now?
Mommy: (Dammit! Ok, you can do this, just be gentle and direct and keep it at her level.)
Mommy: Well, sweetheart, Callie was very old and she got sick and she died.
Mia: (long pause)
Mia: No.
Mommy: (Fuck! Why did you say that? What the hell is wrong with "Callie went to live in a nice farm"? Stupid mommy, bad mommy, the child is damaged for life now. Fuck!)
Mommy: No?
Mia: Callie is in my lap. See?
Mommy: Ok.
Mia: I'm patting her head! I'm patting it very gently! Isn't that nice of me?
Mommy: Yes well, in that case, Callie likes to have her chin scratched.
Mia: I'm scratching her chin! Mommy, Callie wants to take a nap in the guest room! Let's go! Shhhh, Mommy, don't wake Callie up!
Mommy: Not much chance of that, Bean.
And that is how I came to spend yesterday afternoon playing with my dead cat.
Comments (18)
oh dear.
(and also, I'm assuming Callie was just imaginary Callie, yes?)
Posted by chatty cricket | May 14, 2008 8:13 AM
Maybe Callie had returned? You never know!
Posted by Maribeth | May 14, 2008 8:14 AM
Kids are something -- more open to weird shit than we are. I mean, maybe, ah, Callie was there visiting. From beyond. Or something.
Posted by jonniker | May 14, 2008 9:20 AM
Mia is big enough to talk about when she was a baby ? When did she grow up ?! I think that her reaction was great.
Posted by Heather | May 14, 2008 9:41 AM
You handled that perfectly. :)
My first thought was that Mia might be able to see Callie. I could be wrong though. She's got a great imagination.
Posted by Brad | May 14, 2008 10:42 AM
Did ya get her some string and let her run through the house with the dead cat chasing her? Because THAT would be fun.
Posted by Karly | May 14, 2008 11:05 AM
Saved by the imagination. So, where is Callie now?
Posted by Samantha | May 14, 2008 11:40 AM
Du-duuu-du-do. Your daughter is clairvoyant! There's a career in that, not that you've always dreamed of Mia setting up camp on the edge of some Renaissance Festival... =)
Posted by Marie Green | May 14, 2008 1:24 PM
Well, that could have been much worse....
Posted by Amanda | May 14, 2008 2:00 PM
Who knows? Maybe Callie was there.
Posted by Pammer | May 14, 2008 2:12 PM
Absolutely perfect way to go, Mama. We've talked a lot about death around here (since there's been some of it) and kids handle it really well.
And who knows, maybe Callie heard her name and came to say hello. No reason Mia couldn't have seen her, kids are way smarter than us.
Posted by Elaine | May 14, 2008 3:05 PM
Look like ya did good :)
Posted by Heather | May 14, 2008 4:43 PM
My daughter was the same age when she started seeing things and talking about them like this.One time it was a man who watches her sleep,another time it was a young girl playing in her room.Both times she was not afraid at all.Weird.I honestly believed she saw these things.She is now 7 and doesn't see them anymore.She still remembers them clearly though and can describe them.She has a fascination with crystals now.
I have read up on the subject a bit (as I was totally freaked out,she once saw "smoke" in our bathroom and pointed it out to me,getting very frustrated when I couldn't "see" anything!)Apparently younger kids are more open to this stuff and then lose the ability once they grow old enough to fear the "visions".
Maybe Callie was really visiting?
Posted by vanessa | May 15, 2008 3:19 AM
*HUGS*
Actually I thnk you handled the response perfectly. Honesty really is the better approach.
I wouldn't be at all suprised if Callie was still hanging around, sometimes they do that.
But it's your kitty cat and you miss her and I know it hurts. :(
Posted by jessica | May 15, 2008 10:06 AM
That sounds naughty and I hate myself for thinking that.
Posted by You can call me, 'Sir' | May 15, 2008 1:06 PM
Well, that could've been a LOT worse. Kids are so funny what they choose to filter out, aren't they?
And it's OK to talk about death with your daughter ... you aren't going to scar her (or scare her).
Posted by moo | May 15, 2008 3:04 PM
That's sweet, kind of? But it totally would have freaked me out.
Posted by Dawn | May 16, 2008 12:31 AM
That just kind of freaked me! LOL! I've heard young children can really see things like that. But I'm not sure what to think about it.
I wonder if Monkey can talk to my dead goldfish.
Posted by Nadine | May 16, 2008 8:50 AM