Are you caring for a new baby, a child with special needs, a spouse with disabilities, or an aging parent? How would you describe your caregiving routine?

Stuck in a rut?
Anything to get by?
Fly by the seat of your pants?
One step above total chaos?
All of the above?

Yeah, I know how you feel. Because that’s what my routine felt like when my aging mother stayed with us for a month recently. One day, my normal, writing routine was there. The next day, Mom’s needs pulled the rug out from under that routine. She didn’t get her meds on schedule. Meals were late. Appointments were missed. My writing output dwindled to nothing. By the end of the first week, I was a basket case and our home felt one step away from total chaos. Things stayed that way until I created a routine to meet both our needs.

How To Create a Realistic Caregiving Routine

How did that routine come to be? Basically, by asking these questions:

1. What does Mom need?
2. What do I need?
3. What has to get done?
4. What can be abandoned?
5. What requires help to be accomplished?
6. Who can help accomplish it?

The answers to those questions provided a way to reorder my priorities and time use. It wasn’t easy…in fact, it was hard to say good-bye to some of the month’s writing goals. And it took a while before my husband truly understood how he could support the new routine and how much help Mom needed from both of us.

What’s Your Caregiving Routine?

Do you have a caregiving routine? How did it come into being? What would you like to change about your routine? What caregiving resources have you found useful? Share your wisdom in the comment box.

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