8-year-old saves up for weeks to buy touching Christmas gift for mom after dad passes away
"What a gift to learn this level of empathy at such a young age."
Kids can be such great teachers.
No child should have to lose a parent. It’s a tragic, life-altering experience, no doubt about it. But even when put in such painful circumstances, kids can also be the ones to teach us grown-ups that there is always an opportunity to open the heart and let love in. A video making the rounds on Instagram, showing an 8-year-old girl venturing into a holiday market with her pink piggy bank in search of a Chritsmas gift for mom, is resonating with a lot of folks for that very reason.
As Mira Simone, the mom who captured the video, explained, her husband had died of cancer when her daughter was only 3-years-old. Now at 8, Simone’s daughter asked her to take them to the local holiday market, but insisted Simone not follow or watch. The young girl would end up spending $25—at an allowance of $3 a week, that means she saved up for about 2 months. All so mom could have a nice gift for Christmas.
“I ache for her — the responsibility of it, the planning, the things a child should never have to learn,” Simone wrote in the caption of the post. And yet, at the same time, she couldn’t help but commend the “incredible emotional intelligence she would have never had otherwise.”
“I fought back tears at the unfairness of it, the beauty. The love. The extra layers our grieving kids hold are infinite. I’m sure there are so many I don’t even see.”
Indeed, Simone’s lovely daughter is not an outlier. Research has indicated that kids who experience significant grief, like losing a parent, do often demonstrate a higher level of empathy, which they carry with them into adulthood. A common thought as to why is that being exposed to extremely painful emotions at an early age makes it easier to spot similar emotions in others.
Of course, everyone’s grief journey is different. While many children do show incredible resilience, others might need extra support. And let’s be clear—even resilient children need support. Because even if they aren’t grieving in a way that’s visible, they could still be dealing with very complex and difficult emotions.
As parents, teachers and helpful adults in a child’s life, grief support often starts with creating a safe space to express those difficult feelings, whatever they may be. The Child Mind Institute suggests incorporating alternative outlets such as drawing pictures, building a scrapbook, looking at photo albums, or telling stories, since finding the right words isn’t always easy.
Besides having an open dialogue, creating a stable routine (especially during a time of such upheaval) can be extremely helpful. It’s a simple way of showing that life moves on, and we can move on with it, even while grieving.
Other than that, the work is allowing for the grief to process naturally, and reassuring them that they are not alone. After all, this could be an opportunity to teach them that grief is a vital part of healing, and can eventually help them grow. That’s a lesson not many of us learn until much much later.
Even though we’d never wish such heartache on any kid, it’s beautiful to see kids like Simone’s still able to navigate the world with so much love and compassion. It’s a resilience that shouldn’t be taken for granted, but is incredibly inspiring nonetheless.