Adding childcare to the caregiving mix, including the emotional tug caregiving can have on a youngster, is another caregiver challenge. Here are ways to handle it:
• Set aside distraction-free time with your children so that they can voice their feelings and concerns in all areas of their lives. Play a board game, take a walk or simply flop on the floor next to them, then ask open-ended questions and be sure to let them talk more than you do.
• Be aware of signs that your child is feeling distress, such as changes in normal eating, sleeping or playing habits; lower grades in school; crying spells or angry outbursts; increased nightmares and fears; and clinginess. Seek advice and help from professionals if these signs persist.
• Be alert to the signals you convey—and the words that you say—to your child about an ill or elderly family member. If children sense stress or resentment on your part, they may mirror your behavior toward the person or feel helplessly conflicted about two people they love.
• Be sure to provide children a forum to express their concerns, a place where they can ask questions and say the things they might not want you or other family members to hear. Counselors and support groups are available everywhere to help even the smallest among us.
• And, although it’s not always easy, try for some occasional respite from constant caregiving for yourself to keep life in perspective for you and all of your family. Caregivers need time to refuel emotionally, physically and spiritually; you cannot share what you do not have.
More Info
For a deeper look at caring for children in a house with an ill parent, click here.
For help in dealing with the affairs of a minor child—including advice regarding individual disease states, ailment scenarios and financial-crisis management—visit the Web site of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Anne Whyte, MA, is a Nationally Certified Counselor and founder of Positive Strategies, LLC, in Norwalk, CT.
Copyright ©2007 Caring Today, LLC. As originally appeared on www.caringtoday.com and/or in Caring Today magazine. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
