Parenting support for the days when your body needs care too.

The Art of Parenting While Sick helps parents with chronic conditions feel seen, supported, and prepared with practical scripts, honest guidance, and a global community.

A champion of parents with chronic conditions.

Hilary’s writing and trainings provide parents with age appropriate strategies, tools, and scripts for talking to their children about their illness, hospitalizations, medical emergencies, heritable conditions, and much more.
As a mother with two diseases, Hilary draws on her own experience as well as more than 100 hours of interviews with parents, child psychologists, teachers, and medical professionals.
She has worked as an author and editor for Oxford and Cambridge University Presses, Pearson, and National Geographic, and written for Slate, Literary Mama, Waging Nonviolence, and Hemispheres. She served as Associate Vice Chancellor of Adult Education for the City Colleges of Chicago for many years before moving to France in 2017.
She is the patient co-chair of the severe asthma arm of the European Respiratory Society and, in that capacity, has contributed to papers published in Nature, The Lancet, and for the World Health Organization.
She holds a BA in Spanish, Italian, and Philosophy from Kenyon College and an MA in Linguistics from the University of Florida. She is the Director of Grand West Lit Events and lives in the Loire Valley in France with her husband and son.

The Art of Parenting While Sick helps parents with chronic health conditions feel seen and supported and find solidarity in a global community.

Scripts & guides for the hard talks.

Each resource is built with input from parents, child psychologists, child life specialists, and medical professionals.

Talk to your child about your condition

A 5-step script for new diagnoses, flare-ups, and treatment changes — adapted by age.

Help your family handle a hospitalization

Prepare a backup caregiver, brief your kids, and make hospital visits feel safe.

Talk to teachers, coaches & caregivers

A short, calm conversation framework for the people in your child’s life.

Teach your child to dial emergency services

A practice script, common dispatcher questions, and at-a-glance fridge notes.

Parenting With a Chronic Condition 2025

Questions to ask about fertility, pregnancy, childbirth, medication, and postpartum care.

Talk to your child about your condition

26 parents, 8 countries, 20 conditions — what helps, what hurts, what’s missing.

Parenting with a chronic condition

26 parents · 8 countries · 20 conditions. An honest look at what daily life is like — and what kind of support actually helps.

26

parents

08

countries

20

conditions
When my illness flares, I feel…

Top reported symptoms

fatigue
95%
cognitive fog
78%
joint pain
72%
weakness
68%
difficulty breathing
55%
dizziness
48%

Words from our community.

Thank you for making me feel part of something bigger. I get so scared feeling alone with this.

— Kerry · Parent

I really loved the scripts and the clear information. It was presented in a really understandable way and very useful.

— Training participant · Addison’s Self-Help Group UK

Hilary's writing finally named what we'd been living. The 5-step script gave our family a way to actually talk about it.

— Parent reader · Survey respondent

Questions, answered

Parents, grandparents, and caregivers managing a chronic health condition while raising children — and the clinicians, teachers, and family who support them.
Yes — scripts, survey results, and guides are free. Trainings and partnerships are available on request.
Absolutely. Hilary partners with foundations, hospitals, and clinical groups. Reach out via the contact section.
Through interviews with parents, child psychologists, teachers, and medical professionals, plus original surveys of the global community.

Questions, answered

For trainings, foundation partnerships, podcast appearances, and press inquiries — email Hilary directly. She typically responds within a few days.

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