Why would you explain to your child if......

[gigi]

Both the parents of my hubby and myself have already passed away and therefore my daughter (2 yr 3 mths) has never been exposed to "grandpa" and "grandma". Recently the teacher taught about "my family" in the class and also introduced the word "grandparents" to my daughter. My daughter was of course very confused and didn't understand who these people are.

Why would you explain to your child if someone is already passed away? Is it too young to talk about "death"? I have no regilious belief and I don't know how to handle this? Any advice would be appreciated.

[elephantine]

That's a tough one. Are there any other older family members that she knows e.g. great-aunts and great-uncles? If so, you could explain for now that grandparents are like them. You could also show her photos of her real grandparents and tell her that these are her grandpas and grandmas, without any need to explain that they are no longer here. This is what we do for my son, who has a grandparent who died before he was born - he understands that he has a grandparent who he has never seen and I think he probably assumes it's because that grandparent lives very far away.

[kashismum]

I agree with elephantine. You could refer to old people on the street as 'Grandma' and 'Grandpa' and she'll learn the general concept. If she does ask where hers are (maybe later), I would say they 'live in the sky' or something similar.

[engee]

Gigi......i too agree with what elephantine and kashismum said.
U could show her photos of her grandparents.And that they live very far away thats why she never gets to see them.