Cover of The Conversation No Parent Wants to Have

The Conversation No Parent Wants to Have

The Conversation No Parent Wants to Have

Listen for free

View show details

Season's Savings | 0.99 €/month for 3 months

5.99 €/month thereafter - terms apply. Cancel monthly.
How do you tell your kids you have cancer, and how do you keep telling them the truth as they grow, without asking them to carry that truth for you? In this solo episode, Bron speaks directly to parents navigating cancer with kids in the home. Drawing on her own experience raising five boys through two very different diagnoses, one curable, one not, alongside Cancer Council guidance and current research on family emotional health, Bron shares the practical and emotional tools that changed how she shows up for her children, and for herself. SHOW NOTES In this solo episode of Serenity Rising, Bron turns to one of the most tender and least talked about parts of a cancer diagnosis: how to actually tell your kids, and how to keep telling them the truth as it changes. As a mother of five boys and wife of 29 years to Paul, Bron has faced two very different cancer journeys, a curable breast cancer diagnosis in 2017 and an incurable, chronic diagnosis of multiple myeloma in 2023. The first time, she could offer her boys an end point. The second time, there was not one. Bron shares what changed in how she spoke to her children once the conversation stopped being a single moment and became an ongoing relationship with the truth. Drawing on Cancer Council Australia's age by age guidance, Bron walks through how children, from toddlers through to teenagers, process a parent's diagnosis differently, and what that means for the words we choose and the routines we protect. This episode also introduces the image that has reshaped how Bron parents through illness, the lighthouse. Bron shares how paediatrician Dr Kenneth Ginsburg's concept of lighthouse parenting gave her language for something she was already living, and how she has built her own meaning into it, that the lighthouse only shines if the parent tending it is steady first. Bron reflects honestly on the pattern she now recognises from her first diagnosis, running after her children before caring for herself, and the turning point that taught her self care is not indulgence. Borrowing addiction therapist Mandy Saligari's phrase, it is healthy selfish. Finally, this episode explores how to stay true to your own feelings in front of your children without asking them to carry those feelings for you, drawing on the Drama Triangle, first described by psychiatrist Stephen Karpman, and psychiatrist Murray Bowen's concept of differentiation of self. In this episode, Bron explores: How children understand a cancer diagnosis differently at each age and stage Whether a curable or incurable diagnosis changes what you tell your kids, and why the honest answer is more nuanced than yes or no The lighthouse image, and the difference between Dr Kenneth Ginsburg's version and Bron's own Why self care during illness is not selfish, it is the foundation the whole family stands on The Drama Triangle, and how oversharing or under sharing feelings can pull children into roles that are not theirs to carry How to be honest with your children about your feelings without handing those feelings to them Practical, same day tools for talking to kids about cancer at every age This is not an episode about getting it perfect. It's an episode about becoming steady enough that your children always know where to find you. Your healing matters every day. Connect With The Serenity Project Website: https://serenityproject.com.au Instagram: https://instagram.com/bron_watson Facebook: https://facebook.com/bronwatsonme LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/bronwatson YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@BronWatson Have a question or feedback? You can leave a message here: https://fanlist.com/serenityproject
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
No reviews yet