The difference a memory jar made to Rio Ferdinand's grieving kids

The 36-year-old former England footballer revealed that, for 10-year-old son Lorenz, and his younger siblings Tate and Tia, talking about their mum was incredibly difficult.

He said he got nothing from them - especially his 2 boys.

But after learning about a technique that helps children share their feelings - asking them to write down their memories and put them in a jar - things started to change:

"When the memory jar came it triggered so much," he told Radio Times.

"I could hear the joy in their voices, I could hear they wanted to speak about it.

"So off the back of that there's been more conversations. We can talk about Rebecca now. That memory jar has changed absolutely everything.”

He also told The Sun: “When someone comes into the house my kids will say to them, ‘Have you left a memory?’ and that gives them a link to keep speaking and keep the memory alive, which is a huge thing.”

We think this idea is just lovely ?

Rio also talked about how his kids missed the way their mum did things around the house - and how he thought he’d never be able to measure up.

He described his first "scrambling” attempt at the school run: “It was the first time they’ve ever been late for school but I was having a panic attack on my own in the house.

“I had to go into a room on my own and sit there and think, ‘What happens now?’ Then I’ve got one of them in the car going, ‘Mum wouldn’t do this’. You don’t know what to do. You sit there.”

And he told Radio Times: “Rebecca used to fix their beds a certain way, and when they’d tell me it almost felt like a slight.

“I’d think, ‘Whatever I do isn’t going to be good enough’.”

It sounds like he’s doing a great job to us ?

Images: Instagram/Rio Ferdinand

Read more:

• Rio's tweet stirs 'tea for kids?' debate
• How to help your toddler cope with loss
• Grieving mums heartbreaking advice for other parents