“There are only four kinds of people in this world: Those who have been caregivers, those who currently are caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers.” — Rosalynn Carter
What has been your experience? Caring for a spouse 24/7? Caring for your mother living in another state? Taking care of your grandchild? It can be tremendously rewarding but also extremely challenging — especially emotionally: A mix of exhaustion, guilt, and resentment while balancing your caregiving with everything else in your life.
To maintain your health and well-being, the “Powerful Tools for Caregivers” class offers a variety of tools and ideas. The class is being offered virtually using Zoom so you won’t have to leave your home, which is difficult for many caregivers.
The class meets from 1–2:30 p.m. every week for six weeks starting Tuesday, April 12. Registration is required and the deadline is March 28. To register, go online at www.powerfultoolsforcaregivers.org; scroll down to “Find an Upcoming Caregiver Class” and follow the directions to where you can click on the April 12 class.
There is a $30 requested donation to pay for the book “Caregiver Helpbook: Powerful Tools for Caregivers.” If you have any questions, call Britta Willson at 541-256-4623 at Greater Oregon Behavioral Health, Inc. (GOBHI).
In the class, you will find support and share ideas. But if the class doesn’t fit your schedule, you can go online to the same website and scroll down to the bottom, where you can purchase the Caregiver Helpbook.
Whether you were, are, or will be a caregiver, here are a few of the many “how’s” you’ll learn so you can take care of yourself whenever you are caring for someone else:
1. Take responsibility for your own health and well-being and learn how to manage your self-care.
2. Have realistic expectations. Wanting to be a good caregiver can create unrealistic expectations which can lead to a feeling of failure, resentment and guilt.
3. Focus on what you can do and cannot do. Seek solutions for what you can change.
4. Communicate effectively with others: Family members, friends, healthcare professionals and the person you are caring for.
5. Listen to your emotions. Don’t deny your feelings or strike out at others. You are in control.
6. Get help when you need it. Know when to ask for help and where to find it. Without waiting till the last moment.
7. Set goals and work towards them.
If you are caring for someone and trying to “do it all,” I would encourage you to register for the class or purchase the book. “Powerful Tools for Caregivers” offers ways to maintain your health by reducing stress, improving self-confidence, better communicating feelings, increasing your ability to make tough decisions, and locating helpful resources.
To take care of someone special, you need to take care of yourself.
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Since I wrote about brain health last week, I thought I would follow up with a brain tease that was past my IQ level. See if you can do any better. And this time I’m going to make you work a little harder by spelling the answer backward.
There are six eggs in the basket. Six people each take one of the eggs. How can it be that one egg is left in the basket?
The best-selling fiction writer of all time who wrote 66 detective novels between 1921 and 1973 and sold over two billion copies was Agatha Christie. I received answers from Doug Nelson, Donna Mollett, Jeannie Pesicka, Mike McFarlane, Katherine Schlick Noe, Rose Schulz, Julie Carter, Lana Tepfer, and Jayne Guidinger, this week’s winner of a quilt raffle ticket.
Among the most popular spaghetti westerns of the 1960s was the “Dollars Trilogy” beginning with the low-budget A Fistful of Dollars directed by the Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone. For this week’s Remember When” question, who was the star in his first leading role and who was paid only $15,000? Email your answer to mcseniorcenter@gmail.com, call 541-296-4788, or send it with “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” soundtrack, which included the theme song by Hugo Montenegro, which became a hit single in 1968.
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Well, it’s been another week, trying to take it sloooooow. Until we meet again, don’t pick a fight with a grizzly bear holding a shotgun.
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Nutritious in-person and home-delivered meals available in the Gorge.
Seniors of Mosier Valley (541-980-1157) — Mondays and Wednesdays at noon; Hood River Valley Adult Center (541-386-2060) — Monday through Friday; Sherman County Senior and Community Center (541-565-3191) — Monday through Friday; The Dalles Meals-on-Wheels (541-298-8333) — Monday through Friday; Klickitat County Senior Services — Goldendale office (509-773-3757) or the White Salmon office (509-493-3068); Skamania County Senior Services (509-427-3990).
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