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!
CHILDREN’S BOOK REVIEW:
Noah the Narwhal: A Tale of Downs and Ups
By Judith Klausner
On Monday, Noah the narwhal wakes up feeling fine. He goes to work. He makes plans with his family and friends. But, on Tuesday, Noah the narwhal wakes up in a lot of pain. He has to call in sick to work and cancel plans with his friends and family.
Everyone is frustrated with Noah because he looks the same as he did yesterday. “Today is not yesterday,” Noah keeps saying. But no one understands. He feels even worse than before.
But when Noah wakes up later in the week feeling better, his boss, friends, and family realize how much they value Noah’s work and friendship. Together, Noah and his friends and family weather some downs and ups – because everyone realizes that today is not yesterday.
By reading this story, children can learn that not all pain and illness is visible, that pain can vary a lot from day to day, and that you can’t always tell how someone is feeling inside by how they look on the outside. The story also promotes compassion and helps children understand that it’s the overall big picture that’s really important – not what happens or doesn’t happen in a single day.
The author of the book, Judith Klausner, lives with migraines and wrote the book with the aim of helping other disabled people of all ages feel less isolated and more understood.
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