By Suzanne Leigh
My daughter, Natasha
1) Announcing the child's death on social media.
Don't do this. Please. Doesn't matter how active the parents might be on Facebook et al; it doesn't mean they want to share their news on this forum, and it doesn't mean they want you to do it on their behalf. See #2 for two reasons why this might rankle.
2) Alerting everyone you know to news of the death.
The parents couldn't control the
accident or illness that claimed their child's life. Some of them may
feel strongly about controlling the manner in which the news of their
death travels. One parent reported getting sympathy texts from
acquaintances before he had a chance to inform the grandparents of his
son's passing. Exercise discretion and restraint in whom you tell and
how you share the information. No parent wants the loss of their beloved
child to be reduced to gossip fodder, as if it were in the same class
as Lindsay Lohan's latest stint in rehab.
3) Showing up at the memorial service dressed as if you're en route to a yoga class or ballgame.
The yoga pants or baseball shirt send a message: You have fun activities on your schedule that day and you don't want to devote extra time to a wardrobe change. Wearing formal attire is not usually mandatory, but you should dress with the care and attention that reflects the momentousness of the event that will forever mark the saddest passage of these parents' lives.
4) Enclosing a picture of your own kids in the holiday card.
They've lost their child, but they're still going to enjoy pictures of your cute kids, right? Probably not -- at least for a while. They might love your children, but now is not the time to flaunt their photographs. Skip the pictures and share a memory of their late child instead. If you can't do that, adding three words to your holiday greeting, "Thinking of [late child's name]" will be deeply appreciated.
Read more: Mistakes not to make when a friend's child dies