An Article in Living Without

I just read this article, and while I agree with the idea that the daughter needs to be rewarded for her help, I disagree with the author's apparent assumption that she doesn't resent having to do the things she does.

I may be new to the Celiac thing, but I'm an old hand at being the younger, sick child. My sister was always left to be in charge of me, to protect me, to watch me, to take care of me when my parents couldn't be there. And she suffered for it. A lot.

They were there at her performances and such, because she was far enough ahead of me in school that I could just be dragged along with them when they went, but there was never a summer vacation when she could just pick up and go with her friends without having to take me along, and in the end, her friends wound up being my friends. And that hurt her more than I can express. I even wound up marrying the boy she had a crush on in high school.

In short, they need to *make* things happen for her. They need to plan some spontaneous things, or at least be prepared when they come up. There are snack packs and coolers and all sorts of ways to prepare for those things - and they can encourage her to go out on her own with her friends families if the opportunity arises.

They will all be healthier for it in the long run.