For today’s 31 Days of Learning post we are talking about cancer. If you or anyone else in your family has been dealt this hand your little ones will eventually start to ask questions. For this post, Yaya from Step into Parenting (a new step-parenting and blended family blog) created this guide on talking to your kids about cancer.
Cancer. It’s a difficult word to hear regardless of your age. But what do you do when you find cancer becoming part of your vocabulary? Worse yet, what do you do when cancer has gone from being something abstract on the TV to something that is now part of your kids lives? It’s not easy being a parent, and one of the most difficult things to work through is how to talk to your kids about cancer.
Talking to your kids about cancer
For me, the responsibility of having this chat with my 3 step-kids (aged 15 and 8) came when I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer in spring 2019. Not only was the news something that I had to emotionally and mentally digest, but I had to break this news to the kids! Thankfully, the other half helped share the load, but it’s still not easy.
As a step-mum with no bio kids of my own, it was easier in a way. This was because I had time to process how I would tell them; instead of having to be forced to go home and deliver the bad news. Despite that, I was still frightened about what they would feel and how they would take it.
Helping other families have the chat
When we first discussed it with them they wanted to do more cuddling than talking. That wasn’t out of the ordinary, but I could feel the love and fear that they felt. All I could do was remind them that they were loved. And for them not to fear, and that we need to enjoy each moment together.
It was a surreal experience for all of us. Sadly, due to brain fog I didn’t explain things that would have made it simpler for them to take in. Almost a year on, and with the cancer in remission we recently had a chat. We talked about how they felt, still feel, and what we could do to help other families in this situation. Because of this, and with the help of my beautiful 8 year old twin girls I have created a guide to help you find a way to talk to your kids about cancer in a way that is interactive and less scary.
We hope this post helped you. Use it along with the printables to make discussing cancer easier with your kids. These posts on how to have difficult conversations with your kids may interest you –
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Thank you for stopping by and hope you are enjoying our 31 Days of Learning series!
Helen
Yaya Duran
Step into Parenting was recently launched to reflect the authors life as a stepparent. With the lack of parenting blogs that reflect blended family and step family life she hopes to bring more attention to this style of family that is on the rise. Facebook,Pinterest andInstagram.