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Parenting The Chronically Ill: FOMO
FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) is real for everyone. I have it, my friends all have it, we push ourselves and over schedule our lives, because FOMO, and as adults we don’t want to be left behind when our friends do cool things. For kids, it is even more so. Parenting a chronically ill kiddo makes managing expectations and FOMO an even bigger challenge. Bit doesn’t always have the energy to do all the things, but will never admit it. Some things she cannot do, but won’t admit it. I usually have to be the bad guy and say no.
If you ask Bit the thing she hates most about her illnesses you will get a variety of answers based on the day and the current challenges, but I’ll list a few for you: Pizza, Recess, PE, Trampoline Parks, Camp. Though to be fair, she will mostly tell you pizza. I was able to make Bit safe pizza ONCE, then the company changed the ingredients on the cheese and we have yet to find another safe cheese. Whenever we end up in the hospital they doctors and nurses, child life staff and therapists all ask what they can do for her. She always responds “make me not allergic to pizza”, they try to laugh it off, but one time they sent up a Rabbi (note we are not Jewish, she went to Catholic school at the time, but we’re pretty solidly agnostic) to see if he could help. So this older gentleman in a Disney vest comes in and asks how he can help. She looks at him straight on and asks…
