Spiral - I feel so sad for your son and what he must be going through. It is so hard to lose our pets, because they are part of the family.
Last winter one of our horses died, and of course my son and his dad were the ones that went out to feed them and found him. (son had just turned 11). It was so cold, and the ground was frozen so hard, that we couldn't bury the horse for several days, which made things even worse.
I took him out away from everyone, and told him he could get out of the car and do whatever he wanted to deal with his anger and pain. He could yell, cry, scream, throw things, or just walk. I would leave him alone until he was ready to come back to the car.
He looked at me like I was nuts, and said he was okay, but I knew he wasn't. So we came home and I found pictures of him with the horse and we made a collage. I know that won't work with a lot of boys, but he likes crafty ideas, and that's what he decided to do.
I know these may be dumb ideas, but just trying to be helpful if I can. Every kid works things out in their own way.
Last winter one of our horses died, and of course my son and his dad were the ones that went out to feed them and found him. (son had just turned 11). It was so cold, and the ground was frozen so hard, that we couldn't bury the horse for several days, which made things even worse.
I took him out away from everyone, and told him he could get out of the car and do whatever he wanted to deal with his anger and pain. He could yell, cry, scream, throw things, or just walk. I would leave him alone until he was ready to come back to the car.
He looked at me like I was nuts, and said he was okay, but I knew he wasn't. So we came home and I found pictures of him with the horse and we made a collage. I know that won't work with a lot of boys, but he likes crafty ideas, and that's what he decided to do.
I know these may be dumb ideas, but just trying to be helpful if I can. Every kid works things out in their own way.