Perhaps one of the most challenging aspects of motherhood with chronic illness is helping your children understand what is going on with your body and encouraging acceptance about how your illness may impact them. How can you help them develop empathy about what you’re experiencing, especially if your illness is invisible? Where’s the line between being honest and making them worry? What’s the best way to address their concerns in kid-friendly language? This is a topic that will likely need to be an ongoing discussion in your family – and sometimes reading a book together can help!
Ravyn’s Doll – How to explain fibromyalgia to your child.
By Melissa Swanson
Ravyn’s kindergarten class is learning about health, and each child is assigned to make a paper doll patient to represent someone they love who is sick or hurt. While most of the children make paper patients that have visible issues – like a broken arm or lost hair from chemotherapy – Ravyn’s doll looks just like her mom. Ravyn has to explain to the class that while her mom looks healthy, she is sick on the inside.
From learning how to pronounce fibromyalgia to understanding some of the ways it can impact a person’s life, Ravyn’s Doll is perfect for explaining fibromyalgia to kids. But even if you are living with a different diagnosis, this book can be useful tool for helping kids understand that not every illness is visible and that you shouldn’t judge people by how they may look. It also offers kids suggestions for how to help a parent with a chronic illness, like being gentle or helping mom stand up after playing on the floor.
The author of the book, Melissa Swanson, is a mom living with fibromyalgia. She offers more resources on her blog, Fibro Warriors ~ Living Life, including a lesson plan section – a printout for your child to create their own paper doll patient like the children in the book and a list of questions for you to discuss together.
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