Somewhere between hospital stays, rehab schedules, medical appointments, and trying to figure out what happens next, I realized something:

Caregiving has a funny way of making your own life disappear.

Mom had been through weeks of hospitals and rehab, and somewhere along the way, we'd lost a lot of the things that made her feel like herself.

Then rehab reminded me that they had a hair and nail salon.

A haircut.

A little pampering.

Something completely ordinary.

And watching Mom come out of that appointment looking and feeling more like Mom instead of Patient in Room Whatever got me thinking about something caregivers don't talk about nearly enough:

What happens to us?

Because self-care sounds wonderful in theory.

In reality, caregivers are busy keeping everyone else alive, organized, medicated, transported, fed, informed and occasionally pointed in the right direction.

And somehow we're supposed to find time for ourselves, too.

Sure.

Let me just put that on the schedule.

This episode is about the little things that can make a difference—for an aging parent and for the person caring for them. It's about finding tiny pieces of normal in the middle of an abnormal life, and remembering that caregiving doesn't mean you stop being a person.

There's also an orthopedist appointment, wheelchair transportation, and a development I definitely wasn't expecting.

Because apparently, just when I think I understand the plan...

the plan would like to have a word.

If you're caring for an aging parent, navigating senior rehab, dealing with caregiver burnout, or trying to figure out how to take care of yourself while taking care of someone else, you're not alone.

And if you're listening to this while sitting in yesterday's clothes, surrounded by paperwork, wondering when exactly you're supposed to find time for yourself...

I see you.

I've been there.

Actually...

I may still be there.

Around here, we're figuring it out one meltdown at a time.

Send us your comments!

Before you head back to medication schedules, insurance paperwork, and explaining to your parent for the fifteenth time why they can't climb on a chair to change a lightbulb...

Grab your free Caregiver Emergency Checklist at TheWickedDaughter.com.

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