Explaining Tremors to Children

Not sure where to put this on the forum, but I'll try here.

I was painting a class of pre-schoolers and kindergartners last Friday and one boy asked me, "Why is your head shaking?" I don't feel it, but I know I have it sometimes, especially when I bend my head forward. (Great thing for face painting, eh? )

My mother and Aunt have these tremors, and I know there is a genetic component, but I seem to be getting it waaay younger than they did. It doesn't help that I have PTSD (a coworker kind of went postal on me...yes, I used to work for the Postal Service...so I guess it was officially 'going Postal' ) and stress makes the tremor worse. (FP'g is very therapeutic for me, as long as I am not under pressure...so I know, for now, I cannot do this as a business however tempting that might be.)

ANYWAY, I know some of my Aunt's grandchildren are afraid of her because her head shakes so much...of course, mine is not like that (yet ) but when I do have a "shaky" day, I want to give the kids an answer in a way they can understand, and not be afraid. I just smiled and told the little boy, "Oh, it just does that sometimes." and he seemed to accept that answer ok.

I'd really appreciate some "kid friendly" feedback on this.
Thanks!

I think you handled it correctly, especially with the age of kids you worked with. I have a tremor from a medication I take and I just tell people "it's a side effect from my medicine." If you feel the need for more explanation, maybe something like "My nerves get crossed sometimes, but it's nothing to worry about."

Kids today are (usually) more aware of and accepting of physical difference, because they see all kinds of kids at school. They're also, in my experience, much more interested in the effects of a condition than the cause. They want to know if it hurts, if it's catching, does it make your vision blurry, etc.

Probably you're already aware of this, but there's a drug called propranolol that helps some people with essential and medication-induced tremors. It doesn't work for everyone, but if you're worried about the tremor, you might talk to the doctor.

tell him your pixie dust is running low and you need to shake some down out of your hair---

actually I think kids are very happy with that answer---if they seem more interested give him a simple, but honest answer like

sometimes my brain tells my head to shake even if I didn't tell it to---just like blinking---your brain tells your eyes to blink even if you didn't tell it to. my brain is cool like that.

I have ptsd, but from my father's accident. I can no longer read books that require a lot of thought process (Self help or books with complex plots) and my memory has gotten way worse.

I am lost---what did you mean when you said you worked "there"? I missed it---if you don't want to talk about it is all good--

Amy, maybe I should edit that to say Postal Service instead of “there”…guess that didn’t come out too clearly How long ago was your dad in an accident? you can pm me if you don’t want to talk about it here. I have a lot of memory/concentration problems too. I’ve found it very difficult to practice on my own face (when I have the tremor) but maybe that would be good practice for wiggly children I like your simple, but honest explanation… and your pixie dust comment. Some cute things like that to say to put them at ease are great.

JennyNix, thank you for your input too. I liked "My nerves get crossed sometimes, but it's nothing to worry about." I’ve heard of propranolol, but I looked it up again today. Seems they’ve done some studies on it for PTSD too. Interesting. So far I don’t think it is bad enough to warrant the side effects of taking a drug, but thanks for the reminder, I might want to try it if it gets worse. Good point about kids wanting to know the effects more than the cause. Kids are so open to things if they haven’t been scared away by their parents. For example, my husband lost his leg in an auto accident, and on a few occasions he has to go without his prosthesis. Children just come up and ask about it because they are curious, but sometimes parents grab a hold of them and try to hush them up. You can see their innocent curiosity just freeze on their face and they begin to view the person as something scary, which is sad. That’s why I wanted some ideas on this.

Tell them your marbles are loose and rolling around in your brain... then ask them if they can hear your marbles rolling.

I guarantee you they will try to hear them!

LOL! Thank you Miss Ronnie! That is so cute! Leave it to you to have a funny "zinger" like that!