video to explain to kids?

RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: video to explain to kids?

Submitted by tibet2 on Sun, 2004-08-22 - 11:40

hi rhiannon, it's a great story and that's why i was a pest about making sure it got up there and you saw it ... it speaks to a lot of issues busy parents with E can have. i think it helps just knowing you aren't alone in your situation. my kids were older than your son when i got around to telling them. i like that someone else has the courage to come out and write a piece like that. i laughed and cried with her as well. my husband comes from a medical family. he's not in the field, but he is a scientist. so the attitude in his family has always been very off hand and matter of fact. i was lucky enough to have a chance to tell his mother that i had epilesy very soon after i met her. for some reason she was talking to me about light and she mentioned that people with epilepsy could have a seizure from light flickering through a fence or a canopy of trees. she really wanted me to know that these seemingly benign environmental factors could be a problem for some. i knew if i didn't speak up right then i would be regret it, so even though i had only just met her, i told her that i knew what she was talking about because i had E. that one was easy because she unwittingly gave me an opening. and i knew if i didn't take it i would regret it. and of course since i told his mother, his father also knew. my father-in-law (the doctor) was great, he only just took me aside to tell me that the unborn baby would be just fine and i shouldn't worry about it. you would think that could be more difficult to tell your in-laws than your children. and it might have been, except my mother-in-law gave me the perfect opening very early on in our relationship. and it was an unusual circumstance, in that i was pregnant and had been so it was out in the open from the beginning. and my in-laws have been great allies. we want to be strong for our kids, so it's harder to admit to them that we might take a "temporary medical holiday" once in a blue moon. plus, there is the problem about finding the right time. one honest reason people with epilepsy don't talk about epilepsy is because, if we are able to do so, we do stay engaged in the world and don't dwell on the details of E. if my husband comes home from work at 7 or 8 pm, i'm not going to think to tell him that i was in the grocery in the morning and there was a bad flourescent light and while i know those bother everyone, it really bothered me. i should hope more interesting things transpire during my day and we have other things to talk about! but i do think it is important to learn to walk some fine line between not talking and obsessing... in our family the place for serious discussion seems to the the kitchen... and while i'm not a great cook, i cook with the kids quite a bit. and for us that seems to be an activity that lubricates the tongue... the kids tell me all sorts of things while we cook. i was certainly cooking and baking with me kids when they were 4, but i know that not everyone does. oh - the other thing we did at 4 were walks... that's another great venue for serious discussion. you've got the opening. i'm sure you will do just fine... and i'm sure there is more anxiety leading up to talking with your son, than the actual talk will warrant. you'll soon look back and wonder why you were so worried. best of luck. via con Dios.