Tiny, furry, and boisterous. Saying goodbye with the Mups.
Written by Meaghan Carr and Sara Mathey
Three years ago, the Mups welcomed three baby rats into our classroom. Olivia, their primary caretaker, named them Lichen, Clover, and Moss. They were tiny, furry, and boisterous. Many of the Mups were enamored from the day they joined our classroom, while other students needed some time to warm up to the little rodents (including Sara). Over the months, the Ratty Girls grew to be a constant fixture in the Mups room. They made appearances at All School, and students from Primes to Uppers loved to come visit for a cuddle or a pat. The Girls were always up for a tasty snack from a lunch box and a run through someone’s sweatshirt sleeve.
Sadly, our beloved rats were not going to live forever. One of the rats, Clover, passed away last year. Rats typically live between two and three years, and our other two girls were both exhibiting signs that they were coming to the end of their lives. So, a few weeks ago, we began gently preparing students in the Mups for the eventual death of our beloved class rats.
With the help of Meaghan Carr, our school counselor, we began by talking about the idea of being prepared, and how part of a grown-up’s job is helping children prepare for different experiences. Sometimes that means helping them choose the right clothes for outside time, preparing them for what to expect on a field trip, learning what to do when we feel big feelings, or talking about what happens when a beloved pet grows old and dies.
Many students had already noticed that Lichen had been moving less in her cage. We talked about how rats have relatively short lifespans and that the rats were quite old in terms of a rat’s life. We discussed that when rats near the end of their lives, their bodies begin to slow down and eventually stop working.
We also talked about how, while the Ratty Girls were still alive, we could continue caring for her by offering gentle comfort and kindness. On Wednesday, Sara and a few students even made some special treats for them! We reassured students that the rats were deeply loved and truly treated as members of the Mups community.
To help students explore the feelings that can come up when thinking about grief and the death of a pet, we read Goodbye from the First Conversations series. We discussed the many different ways people experience grief and normalized that students may feel very sad, curious, or may not feel much at all about the rats’ decline. All responses are valid.
Students were invited to write messages or draw pictures for the rats on sticky notes, which were placed around their cage so that they could be surrounded by the love of the Mups.
Olivia brought the rats home last weekend, where they passed away peacefully in the arms of Olivia and her husband, Alex.
Coping with the loss of a beloved animal is a sad and significant milestone for children. Every child in the Mups has handled the process differently, and all of their responses are genuine and important. During these times, we remember that school is more than just a place to learn math and science. This year, the Mups grappled with big ideas like life and death, all while being carefully held by people who love and care for them. We know that Moss, Lichen, and Clover had the best lives that any rat could have, and we feel honored and proud to have had the opportunity to love them.
