I’ll admit it. At times, it was terrifying being responsible for this beautiful, chubby cheeked girl who – in just a matter of minutes – could be struggling for breath or swelling from an allergy.
And I’ll also admit that it could get very lonely. I didn’t know anyone else who had a child with these issues – significant asthma, compounded by life-threatening injuries to some of the most common food. Sure, I had the doctors to talk to. And my girlfriends tried, they really tried, to empathize, understand, even accommodate Nina.
Still, in the strictest sense, I lacked a peer parenting support group, something I craved at times.
However, in hindsight, I was fortunate to have something that might have been better – especially for Nina. I had the benefit of the voices of experience.
It came from adults – colleagues at work, friends of friends, parents of other children – who would tell me about their own experiences with childhood asthma and allergies, about what it felt like to struggle for breath or be the only kid at the birthday party who couldn’t eat the cake.
Their stories, tempered by time and reflected upon, gave me a gift – a glimpse into what it might like to be Nina, and a chance to really think about what kind of parent she needed to help her navigate these health challenges.
That’s what Nina and I hope this blog can do for you. By combining my words, my reflections on experiences far past and more recent, with Nina’s own voice and memories, we hope to give you the courage and the insight to deal with the health issues without losing your real focus as a parent – to help this precious young gift in your charge mature into an amazing, successful adult.
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