Parenting is very demanding – and every stage of childhood presents new challenges. For parents also living with the pain and fatigue of arthritis, parenting can become even more complex. While each family is unique, below you will find a link to an article with seven strategies that might help. 7 Strategies for Parenting While Living with Arthritis (Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance – CAPA)
Author: Mariah Z Leach
Mariah Z Leach
Mariah is a writer, patient advocate, and mom of three living with rheumatoid arthritis and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. After learning firsthand how challenging and lonely it can be to face pregnancy and parenthood with chronic illness, Mariah became passionate about supporting people with chronic illness who are or want to become parents. She launched her private Facebook support group, Mamas Facing Forward, in 2015. Today the group connects parents and parents-to-be with chronic illness from all over the world. In 2018, she added this website, dedicated to collecting and creating resources that focus on pregnancy and parenting with chronic illness.
No. How can two little letters feel so challenging to say? Saying “no” when someone makes a request of you can feel so uncomfortable. Or, depending on who is doing the asking, sometimes it feels downright impossible. Why Saying “No” Is So Challenging As children, most of us spent our formative years learning how to say “yes” to our parents and teachers and other adult expectations. While obviously it’s important for children to listen to the adults in their lives, advocating for yourself is a learned skill that many of us were simply never taught. Society also tends to place…
I told this true story at a Story Collective event held at the Junkyard Social Club in Boulder, Colorado on April 30, 2022. It was some ungodly hour of the morning, before the sun had even come up. I was standing at the nursery window after feeding my newborn for the millionth time. I stood looking out into the darkness, my arms aching as I gently patted his back, when I felt a gush of spit up go straight down the front of my shirt. My firstborn was what they call a “happy spitter.” He wasn’t in any sort of…
Sometimes kids need help understanding chronic illness and disability, as well as recognizing and processing their own feelings. We hope these topics are an ongoing discussion in your family, and we love to review children’s books that may help you along the way! Why Does Mommy Hurt? – Helping Children Cope with the Challenges of Having a Caregiver with Chronic Pain, Fibromyalgia, or Autoimmune Disease By Elizabeth M. Christy Mamas Facing Forward purchased a copy of this book to review, and then gave it away to a reader in a raffle on Instagram. All opinions in this review belong to…
In this RheumatoidArthritis.net article, Mariah Leach introduces Gary Chapman’s “5 Love Languages” – and shares how she and her husband used this tool to improve their communication and relationship.
It may seem uncomfortable or embarrassing to contemplate, but if you’re struggling with your sexual health – and your doctor hasn’t proactively asked you about it – it’s a good idea to try to initiate the conversation yourself. Here are some things to keep in mind as you consider how to approach your doctor on this topic: You have a right to your sexual health Did you know that the World Health Organization (WHO) considers sexual health to be a human right? The WHO defines sexual health as “a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being in relation to…
When I was first diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), I was 25 years old and in the middle of law school. I felt like I was just starting out in my life – and my mind kept racing trying to figure out what this diagnosis would mean for my life goals. Would I be able to graduate? Travel? Start a family? Stay active? What about all the things that were important to me? What about my life goals? The uncertainty that comes with diagnosis of a lifelong chronic illness can make it feel really difficult to plan in advance. But…
Sometimes kids need help understanding chronic illness and disability, as well as recognizing and processing their own feelings. We hope these topics are an ongoing discussion in your family, and we love to review children’s books that may help you along the way! The Invisible String by Patrice Karst Mamas Facing Forward purchased a copy of this book to review, and then gave it away in a raffle on Instagram. All opinions in this review belong to Mariah Z. Leach. The twins are sleeping in their bedroom when suddenly there is a loud clap of thunder! Frightened by the storm,…
Sometimes kids need help understanding chronic illness and disability, as well as recognizing and processing their own feelings. We hope these topics are an ongoing discussion in your family, and we love to review children’s books that may help you along the way! The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld Mamas Facing Forward purchased a copy of this book to review, and then gave it away in a raffle on Instagram. All opinions in this review belong to Mariah Z. Leach. Tyler is building something new and special with his blocks, and he’s feeling very proud of it – but then…
Mamas! I’m not sure why it took me so long to write this book review! I read this book quite a while ago (and have since gone back for a re-read!) and I can honestly say that it has made a huge difference in how my husband and I manage the load of caring for our busy household. It’s high time that I share my thoughts with you! We all know that running a household and parenting kids requires endless emotional, mental, and physical effort. Unfortunately, without an explicit negotiation of how the workload should be split, research shows that…