We welcome Child Life Corner to our newsletters. Each month you will hear from Mattie Miracle's Child Life Specialist, Adina Levitan. Adina will highlight topics, issues, and share stories from a child life professional's lens. Given the vital role child life plays in a child's medical and psychosocial journey, we are proud to feature this standing column.
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Holidays in the Hospital
Although the major winter holidays are behind us, it’s very clear to see that the passage of time is marked by the various holidays celebrated throughout the year. Holidays hold a special place in each of our hearts as we associate the holidays with special traditions, food, and gatherings with family and friends. For children in the hospital, the holidays are a way to break up the monotony of the hospital routine: vitals taken, blood work, medication, testing and scans, beeps of machines, and unfamiliar faces. However, they can also be a time marked with sadness due to being in the hospital and not at home celebrating. Child Life Specialists mark the holidays through special events, goodies, and giveaways to change up the routine and recognize the importance of these holidays in each child’s life.
The winter holidays are usually filled with a lot of strong emotions. A couple of years ago I came into the hospital on December 24th and was greeted by my nurses informing me that there was a new patient on the unit with a potential diagnosis of leukemia. As I dug a little more, I learned that this family celebrated Christmas. I could only imagine the conflicting feelings of a potential cancer diagnosis colliding with Christmas. This of course motivated me to ensure that this child’s Christmas was not clouded by his diagnosis. I made sure he had decorations in his room, a pile of presents and as much Christmas cheer as I could fit into his hospital room. Thankfully his family was able to be in the hospital to celebrate with him.
One way that we celebrate is by packing huge bags of gifts for each patient and their siblings. In the days leading up to Christmas, we ensure that our inpatient children have gifts to take home. Being in the hospital before Christmas often means that parents may not get to shop or wrap presents. Child Life Specialists recognize this can be a stressor and with the help of incredibly generous community donors and partners, we are able to ensure that parents have gifts for their children. These same donations stock our programs year-round. On Christmas Eve, after the Child Life Team has packed bags for all the patients who are on the unit, we then leave these bags with the nurses to place outside the patients’ doors so when they wake up their presents are awaiting them, dropped off just like Santa does.
Another patient of mine is frequently admitted to the hospital each year around Christmas time. There is always this moment where we hold our breaths, wondering if he will be discharged in time to open presents with his siblings. It was pretty emotional when his mother got the 'all clear' from the medical team that he could go home in time for Christmas Eve. With a wagon loaded with presents for his family, I rolled him out of the hospital to his car. His mom was so grateful and so happy to be able to go home.
Child Life Specialists also find ways to mark the little holidays throughout the calendar year. National “fill-in-the-blank” day calls for decorations, goodies and maybe a cupcake or two. These surprise celebrations mean that not every day has to look like the day before. This gives kids a chance to see themselves outside of the hospital and more like a regular kid. These are the special moments that parents photograph and treasure.
