How having a sick child changes parenting

Mickey Guisewite, Parent WIth A Purpose, explains how her child being diagnosed with cancer changed what she had to do to be an effective parent
How Having A Sick Child Changes Parenting - Pediatric Cancer Advice
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How having a sick child changes parenting

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I think that having a critically ill first born child has definitely had an impact on my parenting of our younger daughter. My son was diagnosed with cancer sort of out of nowhere. We did not have cancer in our family. Cancer was not something that happened to us. It might happen to other people. But then it did. Our son was diagnosed with stage four of this incredibly aggressive form of cancer. When that happened to us, it really made me realize that anything can happen in life and I do think that I feel more vulnerable. On a positive note, I think that going through this with our son has made me realize how fragile life is and how it can all be gone in one second. Spending really, really quality time with my daughter is extremely important to me because of that.

Mickey Guisewite, Parent WIth A Purpose, explains how her child being diagnosed with cancer changed what she had to do to be an effective parent

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Mickey Guisewite

Parent with a Purpose

Mickey Guisewite is a former advertising executive and syndicated newspaper columnist who started The Bottomless Toy Chest after her son successfully completed cancer treatment. The Bottomless Toy Chest is a nonprofit organization devoted to delivering toys, crafts and hands-on activities to hospitalized pediatric cancer patients. Mickey lives at home with her husband, son, daughter, two dogs, two cats and two turtles. When she’s not delivering toys to sick kids, she’s at home trying to find a tiny space on the couch among her two-legged and four-legged family members. 

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Transcription: 
I think that having a critically ill first born child has definitely had an impact on my parenting of our younger daughter. My son was diagnosed with cancer sort of out of nowhere. We did not have cancer in our family. Cancer was not something that happened to us. It might happen to other people. But then it did. Our son was diagnosed with stage four of this incredibly aggressive form of cancer. When that happened to us, it really made me realize that anything can happen in life and I do think that I feel more vulnerable. On a positive note, I think that going through this with our son has made me realize how fragile life is and how it can all be gone in one second. Spending really, really quality time with my daughter is extremely important to me because of that.