Distance does not stop a family’s love. Below are ideas that will help keep your family connected through separating times. For more information,  call Child Family Life Services, 612-273-3124.

• Have your children visit as much as possible. If you have multiple children, it is sometimes nice to have them  visit individually for one-on-one time.
• Talk on the phone.  It’s nice to have a regular time that you schedule to touch base – In the morning when they wake up, after dinner, etc. Give them your phone number and let them know that they can also call you when they need to.
• Photos: Bring photos of themselves and your family in the hospital room. Put together a photo album for kids to look at when they are missing you.
• Have the children create home photo books of their daily activities for you to keep in the hospital. It helps them to know their daily lives are important to you.
• Have children at home create pictures or art to display in the hospital room.
• Help your children celebrate their love for their hospitalized sibling. Create cards, decorate rooms or doorways, and eat special treats just for the fun of it. Celebrate being together!
• Talk to your children (and their caregivers) about the daily routine at the hospital: What are you doing while they are at school? Even the littlest things like what you eat for lunch helps kids understand how your day runs and gives them a little more control over the situation.
• Leave notes for your child/ren at home, or at the hospital, to open. You can also mail cards, letters or little surprises. Children love mail.
• Record your voice reading your children’s favorite stories or singing their favorite songs. If you usually read to them before bed and can’t be there, they can listen to your voice with their caregiver and look at the book. You could write a letter and record reading it.
• Have the children record their voices for you. They can talk, sing or read to you and their hospitalized sibling.
• Create a calendar that children can mark off every day.  Add fun things to do and ‘assignments’. For younger children, a paper chain works well with messages on each link.
• Pick books about hospitals, illness, or other children’s experiences about being separated from their families. Books help children talk about their feelings with you.
• Create time for each child to talk openly with you. They need to know it will not upset you to talk about all their thoughts.
• Try to have as much uninterrupted time as possible when you are together.
• Have the children pack an activity bag of things they would like to do during their hospital visit.  A mix of individual activities and things the family could do together works well. (I.e. Electronic game and a deck of cards.)
• Give your children something special to have as a reminder of their family’s love.
• Continue your family’s daily home routine as much as possible.