Danielle - can you give us some insight as a sibling?
Hi Danielle,
I have 3 kids, one with DMD, and am currently pregnant with my 4th. Apart from the usual concerns like "Oh my god, how am I going to handle 4 kids" to "Oh my god, how am I going to handle 4 kids when the eldest has DMD", I also have the worries about what my non-affected kids are going to be going through as they grow up. I have heard stories about siblings having resentment for all the attention their brothers get, and becoming moody and withdrawn, not wanting to grow close to their brothers because they worry they will die and don't want to go through that loss. Tell me Danielle, how did you feel and how did you cope? What can we, as parents, do to ensure all our kids feel loved and don't have any resentment towards their siblings. It is a hard thing to go through as a parent or a boy with DMD, but noone ever seems to think about the effect on siblings. Any insight would be totally invaluable to me, and I am sure to many others.
I have 3 kids, one with DMD, and am currently pregnant with my 4th. Apart from the usual concerns like "Oh my god, how am I going to handle 4 kids" to "Oh my god, how am I going to handle 4 kids when the eldest has DMD", I also have the worries about what my non-affected kids are going to be going through as they grow up. I have heard stories about siblings having resentment for all the attention their brothers get, and becoming moody and withdrawn, not wanting to grow close to their brothers because they worry they will die and don't want to go through that loss. Tell me Danielle, how did you feel and how did you cope? What can we, as parents, do to ensure all our kids feel loved and don't have any resentment towards their siblings. It is a hard thing to go through as a parent or a boy with DMD, but noone ever seems to think about the effect on siblings. Any insight would be totally invaluable to me, and I am sure to many others.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Danielle on
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Hi Sharyn, thanks for your post. I'm probably not the best person to ask though, because although I'm am Frankie's sister, because my mum was ill and moved out of the home a long time ago, I took on the parent role, and was definately more like his mother. I know that might sound odd at first, but we actually had the most functional family out of all the people I know! We used to see Frankie as an only child really. I didn't give birth, but like an adoptive parent, I did everything else under the sun, from fighting for the right schools, services etc, to dealing with the intense feelings of protection and wanting to wrap him up in cotton wool, but also wanting him to have independence and to see his personality evolve. I do know a few siblings though, who we met at hope house. I'm not sure how things are from a siblings point of view, and if I tried to write it down, it would probably be a bit of a guess.
When I've seen people on here with more than one child, I think 'wow' my hat is off to you, because dealing with one MD boy was 'all consuming' particularly in the later stages but one of the happiest familes I ever met had 3 siblings and a single parent mother and they were an inspiration.
Danielle, x -
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