Do you think we're talking about death in an appropriate manner with our 2 year old?

I didn’t think this was an issue we’d have to tackle so young! But my daughter has had to go to so many funerals in the last few months. Most of the funerals we went to, the chief mourners asked us to bring her because they wanted to see her. So she’s been to all except for one.

My husband doesn’t think we should shy away or make euphemisms. So he talks fairly frankly with her about the funerals. This happens because usually she gets restless in the middle of a service and he takes her out for a walk while I stay in the service.

I won’t get into exactly what he says to her, as it may take up too much space, but my 2 year old daughter will be singing her ABCs or talking about Mickey Mouse and suddenly, she’ll bring up something about funerals or death. Here is her last musing on the topic. This was right after she sang “Wheels on the Bus” 50 times in a row.

“Great Grandma ‘Jane’ is dead. She died. We went to the funeral. She was in a casket. She was sick. She didn’t get better. She died.” Then she started singing “Ring around the Rosie”

She doesn’t sound sad when she talks. It’s just part of her constant stream of babble. But she’s upset some older relatives of ours by talking about death at all. They say we need to stop talking about it because it’s upsetting to the family to hear a toddler talk about these things.

To be honest, I am a little bit uncomfortable when she starts talking like this. It reminds me of the kid in “Sixth Sense”. My husband says the problem isn’t with my daughter, but our society’s fear of death. He says she has a healthy understanding for her age and he doesn’t want her to feel like death is a taboo subject. But it IS a little creepy to hear her talk like that.

So what do you folk think?