Back to school
Hey hey Caregivers,
The back-to-school season is here. For many family caregivers there is a sigh of relief as the school year begins and they find some more reprieve during the day while their loved one is at school. For many employee caregivers though, the start of the school year means a time of exhaustion as many of you begin class again and are so busy with the workload – or you’re not a student but many of the caregivers you work with are – and their busy schedule makes your caregiving schedule more taxing. I wanted to write this letter to you, whichever caregiver you may be, to encourage you in this new season.
To the family caregiver,
You made it! While summer for many families can be one of the freest and most enjoyable times of the year, often for families who have kids with extra needs, summers can be extremely hard. Be it increased hours providing care, the added medical complications that come with spending time in the heat, difficulties of finding ways to keep your loved one engaged in activities that are naturally more physically demanding, or just the stress of trying to balance the regimented lifestyle needed to support your loved one while also trying to live in the freedom and spontaneity that summertime brings. It can be the hardest and even most isolating time of year for many families. If you experienced any of those difficulties this summer, I want to encourage you that you were not alone in those feelings, and I believe next summer can be so much better. The feelings of isolation and the added challenges that are so common for families of higher need kids, is a significant part of why I’m starting caregiver communion. I believe that we as caregivers, need better connection with each other. My goal for caregiver communion is that we would be a place of support and encouragement that would bring a lightness and an ease to each season. I also want to congratulate you for making it through that season. My prayer is that as fall time comes, you can find the extra rest and peace that your soul needs and for the craziness that comes with changes in routine to settle down swiftly.
To the staff caregiver,
I know many of you are students, or many of you have students who you work with which means back to school time makes your caregiving schedules hard to fill. I want to encourage you as you ramp up for this busy and, most likely, hardest season of the year. My prayer for you this fall is for you to be uplifted and strengthened for the hard work that is ahead.
To the student caregivers, I want to encourage you that while you are in school and you have so much on your plate, be present for your care recipients. This is their whole life and if you don’t invest in spending quality time caring for them, who will? I want to encourage you to use your time caregiving as a reprieve from all the stress and the long to do list of school. While you’re spending time with your care recipients, you have the opportunity to impact their quality of life in a tremendous way. When you leave your school stress and life stress at the door, you can serve and honor your care recipients so well. When the school year started, I would do my best to do this, and I know it can be so challenging with all of the schoolwork that needs to be done, and I know as a student, it is so hard to not think about the assignments and studying that needs to be done. In my experience, I found that when I would intentionally plan activities that my care recipients would love, I was able to better engage with them. And you know what? It would fill my cup too. I really believe that when we continue to do the best work we can while providing care, the other areas of our lives will be reaping the rewards and be so blessed too.
To the other caregivers who fill the gaps, especially now when back to school means you have less staffing, you can do this. I know this time is exhausting and if you look too far ahead it can seem impossible to make it through. I want to encourage you, that just as we have made it through in previous years, we can make it through this year too. I know that when the schedule gets crazy and there is finally a moment you may have to yourself, it can be so easy to use it to just nap or watch TV, and I totally get it, it is such an exhausting season. But I have experienced that when I choose the right kind of restful activities, things that renew me (like working out, spending time outside, or spending time in my Bible), I feel so much better when it’s time to work again. I want to encourage you in this busy season, to really think about what things make you feel the best not just in the moment, but as you return to work as well. You can do this.
As this busy season is upon us, I am so excited to be starting Caregiver Communion in both a blog and a podcast format. Each Friday, I will release a new blog and podcast to encourage, edify, and support caregivers (family caregivers and staff caregivers alike). I believe life is so much sweeter when we have a community who understands the hard parts of our lives and when we’re learning.
The best is yet to come!
Rebecca