There are so many resources available to patients online, but blogs offer a particularly clear window into what life is really like with a chronic illness. Blogs give patients the opportunity to connect with others who may have had similar experiences, which can help us feel less isolated. Blogs also offer us the opportunity to learn from one another!
The Mamas Facing Forward Featured Blogger series will connect you to blogs featuring real moms living with chronic illnesses – all of whom find their own ways to keep facing forward! This article originally appeared on Fighting the Flares and is reprinted here with permission.
If you have a blog post you’d like to submit, please email us at info@mamasfacingforward.com!
Being a Mom with RA
by Amy Koepkey of Fighting the Flares
Here’s the thing about being a mom and having RA:
Your kids don’t care.
Did you get that? Your kids don’t care that you have RA.
Your doctor cares, you care…but it really doesn’t matter much to your children.
The only thing the kids care about is that you are their Mom.
They want you to be there for them…to listen to their stories, to watch them perform a cartwheel for the hundredth time, to watch their sporting events, to help them with projects, to make sure they have food to eat and clean clothes.
They don’t really care that you aren’t able to go rollerskating with them. Or that you can’t jump on the trampoline with them.
They don’t care if you are unable to work, or if you can’t keep up with the house.
They just want you.
They don’t want someone else’s mom. If you ask a room full of one hundred kids what mom they would choose, all one hundred would answer, “My mom.”
Now, don’t ask a room full of teenagers that, because you know the answer is going to be the fun mom who doesn’t have a lot of rules (or at least our kids believe she doesn’t have a lot of rules).
This Mother’s Day, and every day, remember that there is so much more to being a mom than being able to do everything.
Having RA absolutely impacts every facet of our lives. There is no way around that. But at the same time, no matter how it impacts all the other things, it does not have to stop you from being a good mom.
And you know that.
If you aren’t a mom, maybe you are an aunt, a friend, or a neighbor to some kids who see you as a motherly figure. They also don’t care that RA limits you. They still want you.
Now go enjoy your day! Happy Mother’s Day to all of my fellow RA moms!
PS-One thing my older kids do care about is their privacy and having their pictures online. I respect that and get permission before using any pictures of them. Therefore, enjoy these pics from their younger days!
