...I learned from Sims.
Firstly they die.
This is a rather disturbing prospect for a kid who's never lost a close relative before, and our 5 year old really enjoys watching what's happening in the game. Not ones to sugar-coat things of course we had a bit of an explanation about how everything that's alive will die at some point. We knew it was coming at some point, she does have elderly relatives and pets as well. She's lost a fish before, but I think this is the first time she's really gotten her head around what death means.
A lot of:
"I don't like us to die" and of course the tear-jerking "Can I take my blankie with me when I die?"
I blurted out something along the lines of "I'm sure we can work something out." So much for not sugar-coating anything, but that seemed like pointless suffering.
Next on the list will likely be woohoo, or as it seems to be known: "they're making the heart feathers in the bed again." The questions there have pretty much stopped along those lines however (after the wife went out and found one of those books with anatomically correct illustrations which is geared at explaining things to children no less). Either way though, better than piecing things together from watching Nature on PBS?
So is this how people do things these days?