For us, the discovery that grief and laughter could co-exist came through playing with our eldest son (later to include Liam’s younger sister). Open-ended play allows us the opportunity to check in with him, to see and make sure he is processing what happened to his brother in an age-appropriate way.
Play also allows us, as parents, some breathing space when needed. I intentionally set up invitations to play to engage them both in independent play in the mornings, it gives me the time and space, when needed, to step back a little and process my thoughts and feelings, as grief seems to be that much more powerful in the mornings when we realise, here we go again, outliving our child by another day.
Play helps our family find a positive way to process some of our grief and supports our journey of parenting after loss and trying our best to give Liam’s older brother and younger sister as much of a ‘normal’ childhood as we can give them.
We share our play and I share a bit of my teaching experience, on Instagram, over at @bubbles_of_play