We all know that cancer sucks.
There isn’t any better way to put it – it sucks. It’s ugly, it’s painful and
it’s terrifying. It’s even worse when a child is suffering from cancer. Whether
you’re a family member, a friend or a neighbor, everyone is impacted in some
way when a community member is suffering.
One of my favorite things about
children is their unstoppable enthusiasm. No matter their circumstances in
life, they’re always optimistic and excited for any opportunity to have fun.
When children are going through
treatment, they experience a wide range of physical and emotional levels of
fatigue. It’s important to keep physical limitations in mind when living with
cancer patients, but I would argue that it is even MORE important to make sure
everyone is living their life to the fullest.
Even Kids with Cancer Just Wanna Have Fun
Depending on level of treatment or
degree of progress, the following suggestions are things you can do as a
family/community to make sure the children in your life – fighting for theirs –
never lose sight of fun and excitement.
Get Active
Countless studies have shown that
physical activity brightens mood. Even more, physical activity promotes general
health and wellness. You can share with a fighter (child beating/fighting
cancer) that not only are they getting healthy, you’re getting healthy with
them. Consider some of the following activities:
- Long family walks – preferably with a dog!
- Bike rides and the occasional bike race (friendly, of course!)
- Go to the playground/park
- Play tag in the front/back yard
- Play catch
- Soccer, anyone?
There are countless physical
things you can do as a family. Find what you’re interested in and what you can
participate in with your fighter.
Get Adventurous
There’s nothing better than a good
adventure to take your mind off of the mundane. Children have a special gift of
imagination, rendering “adventure” as something that doesn’t have to go far.
Try some of the following:
- A family boating trip
- Theme park vacation – there’s nothing like the thrill of a rollercoaster
- Camping/hiking – everyone kid like sleeping in a ten
- Road trip to “weird” places
- Backyard treasure hunts
- Day trips to the beach
Get Creative
Children are endlessly creative –
fighters ever the more so in many ways. Using imagination takes everyone out of
their current circumstances (often circumstances we’d rather not think about)
and into a world where anything is possible. To aid your journey to this world,
try some of the following:
- Build a fort- better yet, a fort colony
- Pull out your old costumes (and maybe wardrobe) and imagine yourselves as something completely different
- Have a craft day – anything is possible with a little glue, glitter and paint
- Redecorate rooms – make your world a space adventure or an underwater oasis
There are countless things you can
do with your fighter as a family to help them still live the life of a child
who isn’t suffering from cancer. This list isn’t by any means exhaustive, and I encourage you all to
share some of your favorite children’s activities. If you think hard enough you’ll
notice that these aren’t things that are cancer specific – they’re child
specific. Children with cancer are children first.
If you’d like to learn more about
how you can become involved with cancer research or fundraising, check out some
of the following sites:
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