Be gentle and compassionate with yourself .Expect little of yourself in the coming weeks and months. Make a list of all the things you think you should be doing and pare it down until you are left with what you absolutely need to do. Every person will write a different list. On bad days all I had on my list was “light a fire, make dinner and wash the dishes.” I asked a friend to walk my eldest daughter to school. I couldn’t face walking to the school without Hannah and facing other parents and the teachers.

It is so very important to be gentle with yourself, to be compassionate. There may be many things you feel unable to do. Don’t give yourself a hard time about it. Just do what you can and ask for help with the rest. As time passes you will feel more able to cope but forcing yourself to do difficult things will not help at this stage. Read more

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