I first came across the term "caregiver" in a parenting course. In that context, a caregiver was a person who take care of children. This person may be a parent or a babysitter.
The mantra was "Take care of the caregiver". It was foreign to me at first since I had always put my children's welfare before mine. As a result of this, I had endured much discomfort in my term as a stay-at-home mom.
An extreme that comes to mind is what happened a month after my little girl was born. Hubby was working late and weekends due to closing of the financial year end. During dinner, I fed 4 mouths at the same time! I ensured that my boys (4+ and 2+) eat enough by feeding them myself. In between spoonfuls into their mouths were spoonfuls into my own. The fourth mouth was hanging on to my breast! Those 10 days were terrible (but worth it in the end as hubby's hardwork earned him a recognition award in the form of a trip to The Andaman, Langkawi).
Before the parenting course, I was constantly stressed as the relentless demand of 3 small children took its toll on me. As a result, I didn't think I was giving my children the best I could give. "Take care of the caregiver" really gave me the perspective I needed. What I thought was selfish turned out to be beneficial them. Previously, I made sure they had their meal before I start mine (I usually ended up devouring their leftovers). Now I eat when I'm hungry before I turn my attention to them. After all, I can't take care of them very well if I'm constantly suffering from gastric pain.
I don't feel guilty anymore. Frequent flyers would most likely be familiar with one of the emergency procedures on an airplane: Put the breathing masks on ourselves first before attending to those under our care. It makes perfect sense. If the caregiver is not in good health, how can he/she continue to give care to others?
The most important way for me in taking care of myself is de-stressing. Nowadays, I de-stress in the shower (this will have to do if one can't afford a luxury spa treatment everyday!), running, gardening, ironing (as long as the kids stay away from me. Hehe!) and of course, blogging!
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3 comments:
sometimes i feed myself before my 3 children too but i make sure they have some light snacks just in case they are really hungry. :)
now i shall not feel guilty too. thanks for sharing and dropping by my blog. ;)
I have to agree with you. If we do not take care of ourselves, we won't be able to look after the kids well. That's why it is really important that we be healthy.
Michelle,
Glad to know that I'm not the only one who eat before her children do :)
Jo-N,
Thanks for the vote of confidence :)
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