During last week’s Fibro Friday linkup, I read a great post by Angela on her blog, Days in Bed.com, about making quality time with your child when dealing with a chronic illness, specifically fibromyalgia. Angela spends a lot of time in her bed due to her illnesses, but she also has a daughter to care for. In her post, she elaborated on how she makes her bedroom more fun and enjoyable for her daughter.
I love the way she does this for her and her daughter! She does an amazing job at making it fun, stress free, and doable for the both of them. Here is her article, Finding Quality Time With Your Child When You Have CFS, M/E, and Fibro –
Spending quality time with your child(ren) is essential in parenting. Kids want to have that security of being loved and doted on by their parents/caretakers. When a chronic illness such as fibromyalgia is added to the picture, there is a greater emphasis on that quality time.
Kids know when something positive or negative is happening in their family dynamic. They can feel the vibes and are more aware of their environment more than adults give them credit.
When a family member, whether it’s an adult or child, is coping with a not-so-good bit of information, such as an illness, it is important to share that with them – within reason, of course – to let them feel important as a family member.
Talking with your child(ren) about what is affecting the family has many perks. For instance, knowing that mommy or daddy has fibromyalgia will give them a better understanding of why mom/dad may not feel up to playing on some days.
For more guidance and tips on how to talk to kids about fibromyalgia, please read my article Fibromyalgia and Kids – what they need to know about your illness (and how they can help).
For more informative and personal stories about fibromyalgia, visit Fibro Friday.
How did you tell your child(ren) about your chronic illness? Share with me in the comments.
Happily shared with:
Such a helpful posts to parents with chronic illness. Thankfully my boys love snuggling and reading in my bed with me or playing cards and board games. We can still all 4 pile in there together but no room for daddy….maybe we need a bigger bed 🙂 They have learned it doesn’t matter what we do, it can be simple to be fun!
My kids are better at understanding the flare and non-flare days, so it’s easier to have fun iwhtout a whole lot of energy or planning. Thanks for commenting!
Thanks so much for sharing this 🙂 I really appreciate it. Angela at Daysinbed 🙂
You’re welcome!