Since my husband is a pastor, my children have been to a lot of weddings and a lot of funerals.
My 8-year-old has already been to eight funerals in her short life.
Some of those people who we gathered to remember have been family members and some have been part of our church family. They haven’t all been close to my children, but some of the people were.
Just last weekend my husband’s grandmother passed away and my children knew her well. Last year a dear older man from church passed away. This man was like a grandparent to my children and my 8-year-old especially enjoyed sitting with him every Sunday at church. She didn’t sit with him so much as she snuggled with him before the service started and before she was dismissed to go to children’s church.
For our family, it has been valuable to include my children when we attend a funeral.
Why did we decide to bring our children along to funerals?
I shared in the Family Life Column at Pandora’s Box Gazette the advantages of taking your children to funerals so you can decide whether or not it is right for your family. Hope it’s helpful!
Rachel Schmoyer 
The day after my brother passed away was a particularly hot summer day. My 5 year old son was with us at my parents’ house where there was a pool. I let him go in the pool with the promise of quiet behavior. He complied at first but then started acting up a bit. I reminded him that he needed to behave because people were very sad and we needed to respect that. He replied, “didn’t I know that he was very sad too.” Children need to learn to grieve and deal with their sadness, as well as respect the sadness of others. I learned a valuable lesson that day.