How to talk to a child about a parent’s prolonged illness
Submitted by Dr. Gwenn Is In
It’s been a year since I injured my back. When it first happened, I innocently thought the story would have begun and ended in short order - those sorts of things typically do. My situation, however, became a bit complicated and dragged on for the entire year complete with medical hurdles I could not have predicted when the injury first occurred and ending with surgery this past October, which I all my doctors adamantly explained to me as “not going to happen” even through the summer.
Throughout the year, I was struck by the impact of my situation on my family. While a relatively minor medical situation in the spectrum of medical situations, that didn’t matter to my children. All they knew was “mom was down” and unable to do some of the things they counted on me to do.
Whether a minor situation or major, the illness of a parent impacts children in profound ways. I learned a great many lessons over the last year that I shared with Vicky and Jen in my recent Easy Pediatrics podcast. My hope is to help people understand some of the issues so if faced with illness or injury yourself, you’ll have some resources to refer to and know you’re not in this alone.
In the podcast, I cover just about every topic that impacted my life in the past year from relationships to planning meals to the community of moms to finding times for dates with your spouse to how to talk to kids about tough stuff to the medical community.
If you are struggling with a tough time medically, you may be tempted to turn inward and try to handle everything yourself. Don’t! Turn to your family, friends, husband and community of moms and turn over some of the reins. You’ll get back on your feet quicker and be a better mom for doing so.
And, if you know a mom who is facing a tough medical situation, even if you don’t know her too well, offer to make a meal or drive the kids some where. She may say “no thanks” now, but I promise you’ll be helping more than you could ever know.
For more information on taking to kids about when a parent is sick, click here.
