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Wolf did the same thing as the rest of the kids mentioned. It was this frantic DEATH phase that lasted for nearly a year I think. There was a lot of talk about Mormor's pets who died and what happens when we die, etc... I read up on it and it's a common phase, but it is creepy none-the-less.

He's almost 5 now and it's calmed down a lot, but recently he was telling everyone our cat is going to die soon. The cat has diabetes and is 13 years old, but he is certainly not going to die soon!!! In his mind several years is still "soon." And of course the dramatic deaths at the business end of a sword or gun haven't lessened...

Is it a common phase for 3 year olds, or is it a sign of giftedness at 3? I don't remember my older daughter being aware of death so young, but my DS3 is very curious about it right now and not in a scared or morbid fashion--just very matter-of-fact about it.

His grandma was talking about a turtle she had as a child, and he asked her what happened to it. Overprotective mother that I am, I started into a long story about how turtles live a long time, and how it was probably living happily in a pond somewhere. He thought about it for a minute, then said, "No, I think it died." Cracked us both up.

I think it seems a common phase for alot of children although gifted kids may see/feel a more in depth picture of the life/death cycle.

Trillium, it could also be a "boys vs girls" thing too. DS5 was, at 3, far more curious about death than DD3 is now.

Around age 4 or 5, DS seemed to get a lot out of a book called I Found A Dead Bird.

Unfortunately, even in second grade, many of his school journal entries (what little he would write) contained at least one sentence about death, particularly killing. And sometimes he would even be the killer! GAAH, talk about creepy! Most of the time I tried to let it go without comment, thinking it was typical for boys his age & that he probably was doing it to impress his classmates, but DH was even more freaked out and kept telling him to "stop writing about killing all the time!"