Experience … Knowledge … Advice
Grandparents offer wisdom that only experience can bring. However, in the world of asthma and allergy, diagnostic measures and treatments change so rapidly, only the most informed can keep up.
When leaving the kids with Pop and Grandma for an hour, day or weekend, they’ll need to know things you know intuitively, such as early warning signs that an allergy or asthma episode is starting , and also things you know because the physician taught you, such as how to respond to symptoms.
And then there’s that awkward space for both parents and grandparents called advice. Usually well intended, it comes in all sizes and flavors.
“My in-laws gave us a Chihuahua for Christmas. They said the asthma would leave our little girl and go into the dog.”
“My grandfather took me out the back door, cut a four foot branch from the oak tree and peeled the bark back. Then he put the branch in my closet and said, ‘When you get taller than this branch, the asthma will go.’”
“I told my mother-in-law that Isabella was allergic to eggs. So what is the first thing she fed Isabella after my husband and I left for our first weekend away alone? Eggs. Isabella broke out in huge welts and we had to come home right away!”
“My grandson just needs more discipline. He uses his asthma to get attention and get out of doing things.”
“I grew out of my asthma without all those medicines. My grandson can do it too.”
Sometimes their opinions are both vocal and very correct:
“My grandson needs to see an allergist. He’s been hospitalized twice. But my daughter says that the pediatrician would refer him to an allergist if he really needed one. I don’t agree.”
“My daughter smokes cigarettes. Whenever my grandson stays at our house, she brings him with a bag of medicine. Within a couple of days, his peak flow rates are great and he doesn’t need as much medicine. I can’t get her to understand how her smoking is harming her son.”
“I’m so glad I can stay home and take care of my two grandbabies with asthma while my daughter works. They have food allergies and it would be hard for them to be in a public day care program. And I don’t mind taking them to the doctor, but it’s my daughter who should be going, not me. She relies on me too much to do and know the things she should know. But she’s young and just doesn’t understand.”
When grandparents are also childcare providers, moms and dads and grandparents must forge an alliance of agreement and cooperation on behalf of the child with allergies and asthma.
Consistency from one home to the next, use of medications, avoidance of allergens and irritants, attention to early warning signals, and a smoke-free environment are the best ways to build family unity and show the child with asthma and allergies just how much he is loved.
Related posts:
- Hiring a Babysitter
- Parents
- When Allergies and Asthma Pack their bags for Camp
- Cracking Open Egg Allergy
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