Through the Eyes of a Child

I know a lot of people worry about telling their children about MS once they are diagnosed. Common thoughts of "how much will they understand?" "will they be scared?" "can they handle it?" and other frightening things run through their minds. I remember when I went through that. My kids were 9 and 7. My husband and I sat down with them and told them we had to discuss something important. Very serious family meeting if you can imagine. I took a deep breath and told them the doctor said I have a disease called multiple sclerosis, MS for short. I explained that it affects many parts of the body and I could have trouble walking and one day be in a wheelchair. They sat there looking at me with equally serious looks on their faces. When I was done with everything I knew that I thought they should know, my older son asked "are you going to die?" I calmly said "not from this, no" and got ready to explain that everyone dies but that this disease could do a lot of things but wouldn't actually kill me. However, I didn't get the chance...all he said after hearing "not from this, no" was "oh, okay" and he walked away to play, coaxing his younger brother along with him.
     So that was my first slap to reality. He's right. If it isn't going to mean I'll die from it, then it can't be that bad, right? As they say...from the mouths of babes.