One of the everyday needs, but most important is childcare. When mom and/or dad are unable to spend the time they need to with their children, they want to make sure that they are well cared for, while they are away. Our daughters were at the age where they would have been fine to leave at home alone for several hours. Since we were already experiencing a difficult time as a family, we thought it was important that they had some one caring for them so they wouldn’t feel alone or left behind.

Ask the parents whether the children would be cared for best in their own home or whether getting out of the house might be good for them. You could bring them to your house, a park, or a library.

Circumstances Where Childcare can be a Blessing

• Appointments. Many burdened families have doctor appointments to go to, where they don’t necessarily need to bring the whole family.
• Hospital stays. We had at least one 3 day hospital stay per month, while my son was sick. With both parents wanting to be bedside, plus fitting in work. It was really helpful to have our girls be able to stay with someone overnight during those times.
• Respite. Whether a new mom needs a nap or maybe both parents need some downtime, from caring for a special needs child,  having someone to call  for a breather can be a huge blessing to the whole family.
• Dates. Going through a burdened time can be extremely difficult on a marriage. All the added stress and less time to talk about … well talk at all…can make it worse. Send a burdened mom and dad out, so that they can enjoy each other or at least have some uninterrupted conversation.
• Transportation. Being a carpool option or available to drive their kids, in case of a busy time or emergency, would ease much stress. This is especially helpful in school, church, or extra curricular activities.
• Emergencies. There were several times where we had an unexpected blood transfusion appointment or had to go to the ER for a fever. It was nice to have several people to call that would step in to care for our daughters during those times.

We really wanted our daughters to feel cared for, even when we had to be away for many hours at a time, while their brother was sick. Our friends and family really rallied around us in these specific ways to help our kids feel loved and be able to experience the normal activities as much as our life would allow.