Separations and Children

Many families, friends, and lovers have to endure separations due to military deployment, economic necessity, educational opportunity, incarceration, political strife, divorce, illness... In the age of Skype and texting, it's hard to imagine how humans ever survived long separations from their loved ones back in the days of waiting for boat-mail or lengthy journeys via horse caravan! It's hard enough for adults, but for children separations can be particularly frightening. The fear of abandonment lies at the heart of all of us, with its roots in childhood-when we depended on our caretakers for existence. When we are small, and in control of nothing - being away from family can be scary indeed. We always wonder if the parent or loved one is thinking of us. We worry if they are okay, if they miss us, if they obsess as we do... At YFS, our staff have worked with families enduring all sorts of separations. I wanted to share one of our favorite books for children dealing with separation from loved ones. Maybe you can incorporate this into your child's bedtime reading rotation: