How Do You Talk To Your Kids About Death?

How do you explain death to a child?  (We'll talk about this Tuesday morning on Bis-Man Weekly with Jim Walsh, 11AM - noon).  Click here for streaming...

Recently David "Kidd" Kraddick, syndicated radio host (heard locally on our sister station, HOT 97.5) died suddenly.  Monday morning on the show, Kraddick's sidekick, Kelly Rasberry described how she discussed the issue with her six-year old daughter.  Hear it here (YouTube).

With all due respect to Ms. Rasberry (and it's none of my business who she raises her kids), I thought the way she handled it with her child was, well, creepy.  I don't think it's healthy to sugar-coat the issue with talk about "heaven"; in fact I found it rather condescending, the human equivalent of, "so-and-so's on a farm upstate..."

A child needs to learn to deal with death and grieving.  Yes, you should be as gentle as possible; yes, you should be ready to answer all the questions that the child will have.  But a child needs to understand, on his or her own level that it's permanent, and that it's a part of life.

It is a heavy question that needs to be addressed (and you will need to address it, sooner or later): how do you tell your children about death?