The New York Times reports that Kate Middleton’s cancer announcement was never going to be easy

How to Talk to Kids About Cancer Diagnosis in the Family – A Mother’s Guideline for Cops, Nurses, and Social Workers

Farrell said that it was okay if you looked scared or teary eyed. “Kids need to know it’s OK to have those feelings, that this is a hard situation.”

She suggested saying something like: I’m a little scared about this too. It’s OK to be scared and we can be scared together a little bit, and it makes me sad to talk about but I know you’re going to be fine.

If a child asks, “Are you going to die from this?,” Farrell said that the impulse is to say, “Absolutely not!” This could damage the relationship between a parent and child.

Farrell says that children should be able to trust their parents. They should not feel left out of the loop, or that they aren’t important enough to be told.

She encouraged parents to say something like: We’re going to keep checking in about this and we’ll keep updating you as things happen. The most important thing is we’re still a family and we are going to continue to be the same family, we just have something hard going on right now.

Farrell says to then give the child some space to react, to sit back and ask “What questions do you have?,” and to ensure them they can come back with any extra questions they may have in the future.

Farrell says that the next most important thing after breaking the news is making sure to let the kids know how the diagnosis will impact them in terms of their daily lives — someone else may now have to take them to school, or the parent might be spending some time away from home. It’s also important to make sure the child’s life remains as normal as possible in terms of activities and schedule.

Source: How to talk to kids about a cancer diagnosis in the family

What Is It Telling You When You’re Getting Your Child’s Attention? Catherine, Princess of Wales, Announced Cancer

She suggests saying something along the lines of: You may have noticed that things are a little weird around here recently. I’ve been gone a lot, I’ve been in appointments, I’m on the phone more, so I wanted to tell you why.

She said it’s important to remind children that the best information they can get is from the parents, and not from the internet.

She often encourages people to choose a comfortable space such as at home, “not in a space where kids may not feel like they can react or respond in a way they want to or need to,” she said.

It has taken us time to explain everything to them and to assure them that I’m going to be ok, and that is most important.

Catherine is young — 42 years old, the same age as me — and the fact that she has cancer of any kind is terrifying, whatever that cancer might be. Even if the medical questions can’t be answered, I want to learn more. When someone I care for around my age has been diagnosed with something catastrophic in the hospital, I frequently dig into the chart to understand how the story began. There may be a part of me that thinks I am not vulnerable because I’m aware of these details. We find ourselves drawn to the realities that we fear.

I found myself thinking about this on Friday, when Catherine, Princess of Wales, made her cancer diagnosis public in a video. She did not share the type of cancer she had, nor the nature of the abdominal surgery she underwent in January after which the cancer was diagnosed. She spoke about her cancer, the treatment she was going to be receiving, and her family. It was enough for the internet to go crazy with rampant speculation, just as it had been in the past when people were trying to understand her disappearance.