Caregiving and Champagne - There is a Connection ...

Did your parents ever hire a babysitter to mind you for a few hours while they got out for the evening? It is quite likely that they did this. The reason for parents doing so seems quite apparent - they will love their children dearly, but they will require some time for themselves whether to just blow off some steam or rekindle a romance. Now, that the tables are turned and you are providing care for a parent/friend/spouse, do you not deserve the same privilege?

Yes. As a caregiver, there is a great deal of associated stress involved ... trust me, I know that the job is not easy! For your own health and sanity, you must find a way to safely release that stress otherwise you may be heading for a disaster and blow up at the most inopportune time and at the most unsuspecting individual. Consider a bottle of champagne for a moment ... if you loosen the wire on the top of the bottle, the cork may pop off without any notice at all. If your champagne bottle is sitting in a well of ice, the cork may well fly up and break a number of bar glasses hanging above. This leads you to an extensive clean-up where you must melt down the ice, wipe out the well for tiny glass chards and replace the ice.

My point here is simple ... always take care of yourself, first and foremost, to avoid potential disaster. If you don't like the idea of hiring a "babysitter" for your loved one, there are ample other more appropriate terms: caregiver, care aide, support worker and so on. Don't overlook that additional help can be provided by not only individuals but also by companies or organizations. Just one example of this would be a hospital day program. Such programs will provide qualified staff to care for your loved one for a longer period of time while you can escape. To find a day program, pick up your phone and start calling some local hospitals. Make sure you visit each program to confirm what they offer before registering your loved one. The same can be said for hiring an individual to provide additional care - a personal meeting will be best to gauge his/her interest in and aptitude for the position you are offering.

Mom and Dad were onto a good thing with babysitters ... while you may prefer to handle your loved one's affairs personally, there is nothing wrong with minding your own health as well by stepping away occasionally. In fact, I strongly recommend that you do so!