the mummy diaries

[puppydavies]

i'm not sure i'll be able to bring myself to watch. how utterly heartbreaking.

mummy diaries

I watched this and am still crying, it was so sad. My heart goes out to you OJ and others who have been through similar situations.

What a brave family to be filmed like that.

I cried the whole way through this, my dnephews will be faced with this, possibly quite soon. I'm not sure the children involved could give informed consent for this though, and that really worried me.

I watched it, i knew it would be very hard to not turn the telly off. I learnt an awful lot though but hope i never have to use any of it

Onlyjoking i cant even begin to imagine what it must be like for you. My thought are with you.

I too have watched this through teary eyes. What a wonderful strong woman who runs the programme and also some very very brave children. It just shows that children do know more that you want them to sometimes but also prove us wrong as to how brave they are about their feelings. OJ, and anyone else suffering, my heart really does go out to you and your families.

Just posted on the other thread and I am still very tearful after that.

It was a wonderful programme and I have learned an awful lot - very humbling.

Only joking, I just can't imagine but my thoughts are with you and your family tonight.

Memory boxes are a fantastic idea if you have the strength to do it, my friend did it on her dh's behalf afterwards. The children really value this.

I do wish my Mum had written me a letter or something even now, and she died when I was 31.

Hi does anyone know if this program is going to be repeated at some point as i didnt realise it was on.
Thanks Emma

OJ, I wondered if you'd watch it. We couldn't face it, I'm afraid. I did think about watching it but then I read a review and it mentioned one of the mums had cancer of the oesophagus which is the same cancer that DH and Dad have and that really made it too close to home. I do wish DH would do something similar, though. I keep a diary about the boys - just general stuff on what they've done - and I keep asking DH to write a few memories in that but he never does.

I thought the family and the children involved were just wonderful, there aren't words to describe their courage really. The memory boxes were a lovely idea - I wish I had one for my own mum - and she died at 78!

However, my dad died when I was eight and was ill for a long time beforehand and I would have hated anyone, however pleasant and well-meaning, coming round to make sure I was 'prepared', encouraging me to talk about my feelings and to roleplay the illness and likely outcome. I just think it would have made me even more anxious and coloured every day with dread, but as it was we lived in a bit of a bubble and pretended there was hope. I know that's not considered 'healthy' these days but I do believe it was better for me - though I'm certainly not saying that would be true for all, or even most, children, as these families did seem to find the Winston's Wish approach helpful.

Mummydoit, yes it is too close to home for you i will watch it at some point but not yet, it is on for three weeks.

Can anyone who was brave enough to watch it tell me what sort of things were in the memory boxes? Maybe it's something I could be putting together myself. I'm already making sure that DH is in loads of family photos and videos. He's got hardly any photos of his Dad because his Dad was a keen photographer and was always the one taking the pictures. DH is the same but I now make sure I take the camera off him now and then so that I can get lots of pictures of him.

they had lots and lots of little memory cards - small cards with different memories the mum wrote over the course of a year.

and they had treasures that she had collected since they were born.

a really lovely thing was at the funeral every person was given a card to write one memory of her on.

was so sad, makes you count your blessings for sure.

Emma24, it is a series, it's on again next Thursday, they are following five families.

they also had a mummy manual, which had headings for different pages like 'boyfriends/girlfriends' for example, which gave the parent an opportunity to write down what they would have been advising their children and their partner regarding that particular issue. one of the things one of the mums wrote down was a list of people to help her daughter at puberty time - like who might be a good person to take her daughter for her first bra fitting, for example.
there's more info at the winston's wish website - really helpful stuff.

Thanks. Some lovely ideas there. I'm half-tempted to watch the next one but not sure I could handle it.

mummydoit, give me a shout if you want a copy as i have recorded it, just not watched it

OJ and Mummydoit - I feel for you. I am not in, or close to, this situation and I took it for about 2 minutes before I was crying.

It did seem like a lovely thing for the DC to have though - little cards telling them exactly how and why they are so special and so loved. If you brave brave women can bear to watch it / read the website I think your children might well thank you for it in years to come.

i was brave enough to look at the website so am i kinda half brave?

That is pretty brave oj, so sorry to hear about your DH. I hope the programme helps you in some way.

I couldn't watch it. My friend's sister is terminally ill, she has two children. I just feel so sad thinking about it.

Mummydoit , another nice thing was that one of the mums did a recording where the interviewer asked her questions like "whats your favourite actor" and "what was your most embarrassing moment ever" and i thought it was nice for her children to have a record of her having those sort of amusing conversations. I thought the memory box was such a good idea,both for the mum and her children. It think it gave the mum a feeling that she was still going to have a positive influence on events yet to take place as well as giving them some lasting reminders of how much they meant to her. I cried all the way though but still watched it all

I have had a lot of help from Winstons Wish, my son has lost his dad, grandad and main male carer)my son has special needs) in the last six years, their book Muddles Puddles and sunshines is brilliant!

I sobbed all the way through this but thought it was very good, and very sensitively done. It's nice to see a programme tackle a subject like bereavement without being tacky or voyeuristic.

reminder that this is on again tonight

what a heart wrenching programme and such a poignant ending
i find this show inspirational

Can't believe she died this morning.......yes, it is inspirational but terribly sad.

Certainly makes you look at your day differently and appreciate the smaller things.

i have taped it and one day i will watch it but it is to close to home right now.
did they have any useful tips for talking to kids?