Dear Hospital Mummy

Dear Hospital Mummy

Dear Hospital Mummy…


I would ask you how your day has been Hospital Mummy, but from your tired eyes and rigidly held shoulders, I can see that today has been a trying day and youโ€™re steeling yourself against more of the same tomorrow.
 
Asking how you are? I know better than that. Itโ€™s the one question thatโ€™s impossible to answer without tears when youโ€™re on the ward.
 
To those who have never sat in those uncomfortable chairs beside a hospital bed with their frightened child, it may seem like an easy question to answer and a comforting question to be asked. What they donโ€™t know is that itโ€™s taking every ounce of strength you possess not to fall apart every hour, on the hour. Youโ€™re tired of being strong, tired of this space and the huge pressure it places on you. They donโ€™t realise that a kind word, a hug, a knowing smile could be the end of your strength right now. They simply ask because they care about you.
 

 

Iโ€™d ask if youโ€™ve eaten today, but the odds are you wonโ€™t remember if you have. One day merges into the next and it becomes hard to keep track. You would rely on tummy rumbles to tell you, but itโ€™s hard to distinguish hunger pangs from the roiling anxiety that has found a home in the pit of your stomach while you are here.
 
No, instead of asking you anything, I am going to tell you something. Something important. Something you need to remember as you go through this experience.
 
Youโ€™re doing an amazing job.
 
There are no caveats to this statement, no โ€˜butโ€ฆโ€™ waiting in the wings and no advice on how to do more or better. There is just the acknowledgement that in the midst of a horrible, crappy, stressful, painful situation โ€“ you, Hospital Mummy, are doing an incredible job.
 
Hang in there.
 
With admiration,
 
Another Hospital Mummy xx


This was written on a weekend when three of my friends in separate parts of the UK ended up in the hospital with their children.
Being in the hospital with your child is hard – sometimes a ‘You’re doing well!’ is all that’s needed to keep someone going.

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