He needs to be allowed to feel all kinds of feelings - sad, embarrassed, angry, afraid... Just be an empathetic kind person. A good meal, sharing a bowl of popcorn and a movie on the couch are nice distractions. But when he wants to talk about his feelings, let him. When he wants a moment alone, understand why.
I'm sorry he's facing this hard time.
Wow its usually the other way around. What did mommy do? Go share a big mac with mommy
That all depends on why she's going to jail I guess. Should he be sad .. Or glad that she's taking responsibility for her "crime" and getting it over with?
Kafka gave the answer in his classic story, Metamorphosis.
"One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found
himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin. He lay on
his armour-like back, and if he lifted his head a little he could
see his brown belly, slightly domed and divided by arches into stiff
sections..."
Could you imagine anything more horrifying? And yet, as time passed, his family grew used to the idea and he simply became a nuisance, and an embarrassment.
Your friend will grow used to his mother's change in status, then he'll rationalise it, and hopefully he'll learn from it. The best thing you can do for him is just be a friend. (Lots of people lose their friends when faced by this kind of misfortune.)
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