There are not many things more devastating to small children or teenagers than having to spend the holidays cooped up in a stuffy hospital room or confined to bed rest at home while all of their friends are out sledding or hanging out.  Although doctors try to send as many children home as possible, some inevitably have to stay in the hospital over the holidays.  How can you help your nieces and nephews when they find themselves in this gloomy situation? Many of us have fears of hospitals ourselves or are uncomfortable during a typical bedside visit.  Below are some suggestions to help make this time spent together rewarding and positive for both of you!

Share time

Time spent with the child or teen would probably be one of the most appreciated things you could give as an aunt.  Days spent in bed or even with just a few hours in the hospital playroom can drag for children when all of their peers are at home playing and spending time with their siblings and family.  Of course, this is a busy time of year, but if you can spare even a few hours of your fun time (and as an auntie your time is always considered fun!) it will be cherished forever.  You may even cherish it more than your niece or nephew!  Spending time at the bedside playing board games or creating art will be a more than welcome interruption from the daily monotony and fears associated with hospitalization.

Share a skill

If you have the time to spend with your hospitalized niece or nephew, one of the neatest things you can share with them is a skill that you may have that they don't know about or haven't learned yet.  For example, do you know how to knit?  Maybe you could teach a very simple stitch for a scarf to a school-aged child or a slightly more complicated one to a teen.  Or maybe you know how to play a really complicated board game that no one else in the family does, like Risk.  Or perhaps you took a class in college on drawing with pastels or painting with watercolors.  Children and teens love to learn some of these basic techniques.  Or maybe you simply have the patience to play endless rounds of Candyland - or play hours of make-believe with Barbie Dolls.  Whatever quality time you can give is sure to be appreciated, and if you can teach a skill that your niece or nephew can continue to work on, your presence will linger and give the child something positive to focus on (the new skill you taught them!)

Share a call

Let's say though, that you are an LDA (Long Distance Auntie) or you are traveling out of town for the holidays.  Although it must be incredibly difficult to be away from your niece or nephew during this hard time, you still can be there for them.  Setting up a "call time" when your niece or nephew can gleefully look forward to hearing the phone ring and grabbing it from the bedside table to talk to their favorite auntie may be something he or she can look forward to all day.  Maybe you have a teen niece who you can call with all of the latest breaking celebrity news to dish about.  Or, if your niece or nephew has a computer, you can have a scheduled "chat time" with them or even video call / Skype with them.  Even if you have a little toddler nephew, you still may be able to call him and sing some familiar songs with him to brighten his day.  Or you could email photos of your pets or the toddler’s favorite TV characters to the toddler’s parents that the parents could then open and show to your niece or nephew.  Even if they may not understand the concept of email yet, you will be doing wonders to brighten their day.

Because holiday time is so valued, whatever time you can give to your hospitalized or home and bed bound niece or nephew is going to be one of the best gifts of all that they can receive this year.  Despite the tough circumstances as a Savvy Auntie you can help to make the most of their holiday and turn a hard situation into one that will have lasting positive memories associated with it.  Good luck, I know you can do it!