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!
Wonder Mommy
by Jennifer Senne
Lindsey Sullivan received a copy of this book as a gift from Mamas Facing Forward. She was not compensated for this review and all opinions are her own.
The focus of “Wonder Mommy” is chronic illness in general, however the mother character in the book exhibits mobility issues, fatigue, and migraines. The story focuses on a child’s impression of her mother and ways in which disability impact her day-to-day. This book would likely be best for children 5+ who can understand some of the language used in the book. I do think the repetition of the phrase “wonder mommy” helps children feel positive about the overall message conveyed throughout the book.
I think the story is powerful overall, however I felt the tone of the wording in the story was inconsistent and it didn’t flow well while I was reading aloud to my children. The story is told from a child’s perspective, which I think readers will enjoy.
As a parent living with a chronic illness, it can be extremely challenging to explain the details of an illness to children and, for our family, I felt this book did a great job starting that conversation on a deeper level. Another aspect of the book my family and I enjoyed was describing all the amazing things the mother character did with her daughter. Often, people with disabilities are portrayed as incapable, however this book emphasizes the reality of having a condition with which some days we feel we can do it all and others in which we need to rest and recover. I also appreciated how this book, in many ways, brought attention to the strength of mothers living with chronic illnesses that are not always presented as physically disabling.
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