'Up' has its Down Moments; Here's How to Handle Them

SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't seen up, you shouldn't be reading anymore of this!


Anyone who has seen "Up" would have been blown away by the depth of emotion in the movie. Needless to say, there are many adult-themed issues in it that a child may find either disturbing, or may have questions on. This news article gives suggestions on what an adult should do if a child has things to ask after seeing the movie, especially questions on death.

At the start of "Up," we see Ellie, wife of the main character, Carl, growing old and being treated in a hospital. Soon after, Carl is shown sitting in a funeral home. If this prompts questions about whether Ellie died, or why people die, experts urge parents to answer honestly.

"Kids get freaked out about things like death when people avoid discussing them in a straightforward way," says Brett Berk, early-childhood educator and author of "The Gay Uncle's Guide to Parenting." "The big thing is to reassure them that people usually don't die until they get very old or very sick, and to let them know that you and they aren't going to die for a very long time."

And Nickels says it's wise to avoid euphemisms.

"It's important to not use words that coat over the word 'death,' like 'passing on' or 'going to sleep,' because that will communicate that it's not OK to ask a question about death, that it's so terrible we can not even talk about it," she says. "It's also incredibly confusing. They start to think, 'Oh, so the woman went to sleep and never came back. Do I need to w

orry about going to sleep? Or worry about my mom or baby brother going to sleep? "

"The Gay Uncle's Guide to Parenting"??? That books sounds like a riot! I may want to find that one! :)

Zz.