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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
While we were waiting to board our plane, I texted her to tell her that we were just boarding, would let her know when we land, and that if everything went as planned we should be picking up bunny around 7:30. To which she replies, "please call me asap" ...seemed important so I found a quiet place and she told me. She was very apologetic and asked if there was anything they could do to ease the pain. I was a bit shocked and didn't know what to say so I said no, nothing now, I'll call you tomorrow to make arrangements to pick up the cage.

The kids don't actually know about it yet - made the executive decision to put them to bed and deal with it tomorrow. Maybe this was a bad idea, but they were just at Disney World/in FL for five days and I knew the school day tomorrow would be tough enough already without finding out your bunny unexpectedly ran (hopped?) away/possibly died. Plus they were tired and kind of grumpy after a day of travel and I just knew it wouldn't go over well.

So now, how to broach the conversation...[/quote]

OP it's great that you put them to bed.  It's important to tell kids (or anyone) bad news in the morning, if you can.  Research shows it affects the person differently (worse) if they are told at night, then have to go to bed and can't stop thinking about it and then can't sleep.

Here is the trick:  in the morning, you tell them something they would really want to do, that surprise, they are going to do that thing (like have cousins over, or whatever).  Then when they are excited about that, you tell them about the bunny.  They will fall apart and you console them.  But then you go do that fun thing with them.  And other fun things.  They may fall apart periodically during the day but then recover.  What happens is that by bedtime, it's still horrible, but not AS horrible as if you told them at bedtime.  The reason is that their brain is processing the bad news while they are distracted, not focused on the bad news.

Second, this is the perfect opportunity to talk to your kids about death.  Since you probably can't get this on amazon in time, go to the library and check out "Just Tell Me What to Say," by Betsy Brown Braun.  (or Braun Brown).  I've been to her lecture, "Talking to Kids about Death," and she lays it all out the way you should discuss it given the kids' ages and brain development. And what to not say.  One quick point--do have a memorial service in your backyard.

And I would be remiss to say, I'm so sorry about your family pet, OP.   [/quote]

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