Video Journals

For my youngest child, I have done a few entries in what I think of as a video journal. I know a lot of this treatment is taking place at a time when his memories will eventually be vague. Yet my cancer is a major event in his childhood.

Here is an entry in our video journal that we made during my chemotherapy. I have a few goals in doing this. As I said, I want to document this time in a way he can access now and in the future. I want him to learn about what is going on at a level he can take in. Also, you'll notice how I have him explain what is going on, giving him some mastery over it.



As you can tell, my son loves making these videos. He loves to watch these videos over and over again. As time has passed, he has seen the changes in me. I now have hair. I am no longer in bed all the time. Young children have a different sense of time than adults do, so video helps give them a way to see how things are changing.

What do you do to help your children understand what you are going through?