Bella and Charlie had a lesson in the fragility of life this week when one of their much loved dwarf hamsters, Kiwi died.

I think as a parent part of the reason you agree to pets is to open that door to the experience of the circle of life: To love something, be totally involved…and then to lose it…death is the bleakness lurking in the shadows..it’s the moment the clouds close over the sun..

They decorated the coffin, layered it with love..and Charlie wrote a poem..

We did a funeral service..I sang (probably not the highlight) but I’m hoping this experience will give them something to remember when something more serious inevitably happens.  It makes you sadly realise how jaded you become as a adult – and how the innocence of childhood needs to be treasured: Little things do matter.

Laters, Kate x