Eczema Parent Toolbox Item #1

WebMD

5 hours ago

Contrary to what our children might think, most parents don't enjoy nagging.
We do it because we know that what we're pushing for will help. We know that if our children listen to us, things will be better for them.
But, unfortunately, the majority of the time, it doesn't work that well. So, what do we do?
The way I see it, when it comes to watching our child suffer while eczema takes over their lives, we can do one of two things: either let them live with it, content in the knowledge that we tried, or give in and help end their misery by applying medicine, moisturizing, and whatever else is needed.
The problem is, neither of those scenarios works that well for me. Watching them cope with it is out, but so is ending their misery myself, especially when they're old enough to take care of their own bodies.
It's different with a baby or toddler – they get free passes. They're not capable of helping themselves yet.
But older kids can and should learn to help themselves with problems they face. It's not my job as their parent to do it for them; it's my job to teach them how to help themselves. And continuing to do things for them, the way I did when they were younger, only makes them more dependent on me.
So, that's where nagging comes into play.
Did you apply your prescription cream yet? Why not?
Did you even do it last night after I got on your case about it again? NO??????
Don't you know it will help you, and if you refuse to apply it, things will only get worse?! Come on!
Day in and day out, staying on top of my children and the treatment they needed during their flare-ups was doing a real number on me. On them, too, if their reactions and refusal to take charge of caring for their skin were any indication.
But thankfully, I finally found a solution. One of my daughters has allergies, and every night, an alarm goes off at a certain time. That tells her she needs to take her allergy medicine. She knows if she doesn't do it, her allergies will make her miserable the next day.
So, once she hears that alarm, she gets up and grabs her medicine. Without any nagging from me, just an occasional, 'Hey, your alarm for your allergy medicine is going off.' Easy-peasy.
One night, after being at my wits' end with my kids over refusing to take care of their eczema themselves, I had this thought: Why not set an alarm for them to apply their prescription cream, the same way I do for allergy medicine?
So, I did. I let them know that this was the new plan and that from now on, when the alarm went off at a certain time, it meant they needed to apply the cream to their eczema.
Almost right off the bat, the nagging stopped. The alarm would go off, and I would say, 'Hey, there's your alarm for your eczema,' and that was all that was needed. They'd jump right up and take a few minutes to apply their cream before going back to whatever it was that they were doing.
Now, finally, we're at a point where their eczema is being managed. And it's all being done by them! Half the time, I don't even have to say anything when the alarms go off anymore; they just immediately jump up and take care of business.
They don't get nagged, their eczema isn't nearly as big of an issue, and I have happier kids. Pretty crazy that this all came just from setting an alarm, huh?