The Kids

A lot of people have been asking me how the kids are handling all this stuff going on with Michael. The truth? Very well. In fact, they hardly seem fazed at all. I'd like to chalk it up to our great parenting skills and the belief that we presented the whole thing to them in a non-scary manner, but in truth I think it's just that it doesn't mean much to them. I think they're too young to understand how serious Daddy's illness is. To them, there are many sicknesses, including a cold and the flu, and to them, I suspect that what Daddy has is on par with one of those. Even Kevin, who's 12, seems to be taking the whole thing pretty much in stride; he's the only one old enough to have some inkling of the gravity of cancer, but even to him I think it's mostly abstract. The younger kids seem to be a little intrigued with the thing sticking out of Daddy's arm and the pump with the medicine in it, but really, to them, Daddy is still Daddy - he doesn't seem sick, so they're all just pretty much carrying on as usual. And I'm very glad of this. I really don't want them to be all scared and upset.

That said, I am very interested to see what Joey's February school journal will reveal. Every day in class the kids write in a journal and at the beginning of a new month, they bring home their journal from the previous month. Joey's journal is a kick to read, and it usually reveals something going on in his little head and heart that we weren't completely aware of, so I will not at all be surprised to see a crayon drawing of Daddy with a tube in his arm and Joey's thoughts on the matter.

I suspect that when Michael has surgery (which is projected to take place at the end of June), that's when the kids might unravel a bit over this.