Can I just cuddle up with you until I’m better? – JD, 4
The kids have been ill this week and I’ve been moaning about it. It’s horrible seeing them ill. Having them look up at you with pale faces and snotty noses, hoping you’ll be able to take the discomfort away. And all you can do is dose them up with whatever is safe in the medicine cupboard, hug them close and keep them cosy and entertained until their little bodies fight off the bugs.
And that’s a big deal. Mummy and daddy’s magic cuddles really matter. Actually, I’m 30 and a hug from my mum can still fix a host of ills.
I can’t imagine what it’s like for children who are seriously ill – so seriously ill they have to stay in hospital. It must be frightening and lonely at times. Those magic cuddles must be more vital than ever.
This week I was sent a video that depicts a little cardboard box moving through a dark hospital alone. He’s scared, the world seems too big, but then his family are around him and everything is a little bit brighter.
The video has been created to raise awareness of the work done by Ronald McDonald House Charities, who provide homes from home for families of children in hospital, so that they can be there when it matters most. There are currently 15 Ronald McDonald Houses and over 25 sets of Family Rooms across the UK, all just a stone’s throw from the children’s ward. Together, they provide more than 450 rooms for families each night of the year.
If – touch wood and universe forbid – we ever find our beautiful children faced with serious illness, I hope very much that such facilities will be available to us.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post but all thoughts, words and ideas are my own.
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