Today I will be discussing self care and support.
We will explain what they are and why we gprpc need them.
Self care seems to be a pretty self explanatory word TAKE CARE OF YOUR SELF!
Grandparents raising grandchildren need to know how important is to take care of themselves Since discovering how important self care is we have changed our lifestyles a bit we’ve added back in some of the things that we used to enjoy such as I’ve added back in working on my quilting and doing some writing and reading and Ed had tried getting back out into the garage to get some wood working done as well as learning all I can about making these videos. We want to make sure that everyone else also remember to take care of themselves.
Self care is a process to enhance your physical spiritual and mental well being. Self care looks differently for everyone even though it has the same impact. Self care caters to the individualistic Nas of each self. Only you can decide what’s best for you. There are 3 basic aspects of self care spirituality mental and physical. Spirituality refers to activities that make you feel connected such as writing in a journal reading The Bible doing devotions meditating and the like.
Mental refers to activities that stimulate your brain such as reading writing setting goals making vision boards and the like.
Physical refers to your body making it healthy by eating right exercising going to your doctor’s appointments physically also can refer to things that you physically do like having your hair done getting a nails done sitting in a hot bath and the like.
Self care should happen on a daily basis don’t wait for a special day like Mother’s Day or your birthday because every day and our life in in this adventure it is a special day.
Some people think that self care is selfish but it is not it is the opposite my favorite example of self care is what they teach you on an airplane. If the oxygen mask comes down you need to put on your own oxygen mask before attempting to help anyone else this is because if you were to pass out you would not be any help to anyone else. It’s often said that you cannot poor from an empty cup. Taking care of yourselves 1st makes it possible for you to take care of others if your container is empty or your mask is not on you need to make sure that that you wear the mask and fill your cup because you are just as important as anyone else.
When you are not taking care of yourself you can find yourself being empty you may have feelings of hopelessness and anger you may become Weepy Grumpy crabby and resentful. Lack of South pare can have an effect on your physical well being as well. You may suffer from headaches and muscle tension. Not taking care of yourself can also cause sleep disturbances Which includes not being able to fall asleep or staying asleep you may find that you are tired all of the time .
Self care is anything that benefits your needs. Be sure to schedule daily time to take care of you. Start a morning ritual that gets you moving in the morning. Try to incorporate the spiritual mental and physical into a ritual. You can exercise For listening to an audio book or do a few yoga poses and a journal entry. In the evenings set aside some time to check in with yourself remind yourself of what you’ve accomplished that day. I know some days on this adventure it will be a short list and that’s OK.
Self care includes setting boundaries and allowing no negativity in your life. It’s setting up a support system with Others. Don’t allow critics to say you’re selfish avoid people who don’t support you. A very important part of self care as forgiving yourself and others.
Here are some examples of things that you could do for self care remember that there are many other Things that you can do. Do what is right for you.
Read a book take a hot bath go to the gym yoga dance coffee with the girls a beer with the guys hiking a nice glass of wine date night listen to an audio book go for a ride play a game volunteer get a salon visit for a pedicure manicure or new hairstyle play on the Internet take a walk sit in the hot tub join a sports team watch sports on TV cook go shooting bow shopping work in the garden Play an instrument or listen to music gaze at the stars go to the movies eat at a restaurant go to the park anything that makes you feel good.
If you really can’t find anything that you would like to do for self care you might want to try brainstorming it’s a great way to come up with ideas take a sheet of paper and write down all the things you wish you could do don’t worry about of us logical or if you have the money just put it down the paper and that way you can look back later and try to do the things that you can or improvise remember everything begins with a plan.
Support is as importune as self care. And this episode I would also like to discuss support where to find the support and why support is so important.
Having support during this time in your life when taking on such a large undertaking such as this adventure it’s very important that You have support.
There Are 3 types of support. 1st you have your family and close friends 2nd you have your community which is the area around you and in your town and thirdly you have globally which would be things such as online support.
1st let’s talk about support that you got from your friends and your family these are people that you know They technically do not have to be family many of us have friends that we consider family. Just somebody that you can vent to that you can talk to someone that will help you adjust to this new adventure.
The 2nd type of support is a sport that you get when you are looking in their community. I found a program called a kinship program it is through the children’s world network. This is an amazing program that has showed us a lot of support. We have been to many meetings which they have monthly. Some of the meetings they have guest speakers such as an attorney who talked about the terms used in court. And nutritionist that talked about what the children needed to eat and how to make healthy snacks. They also brought in educators that help talk to us about foundations and grants that were available for our grounds. They have brought book bags and school supplies at the beginning of every school year. At many of the meetings they bring in donated clothes and shoes for us to look through and see if there’s anything that fits the children that we are currently raising. This group kind of works with DCF in our area so if I do have problems with these IF which I dead I was able to talk to my kinship we Asian and she helped me to figure out who to talk to about my issues with dizzy F. Again this program is in central Florida so you may need to go googling for something in your area similar to this company. You can also look for groups that meet and local parks I know that mom groups are a lot easier to find but let’s hope that there are more grandparents groups showing up because some person to person support from your community Is very beneficial. Other groups of community support also come from churches if you’re a member of a church then see what they have available if they don’t have a grandparents raising grandchildren group maybe it’s a calling for you to start 1. That also goes for in your community if you don’t find 1 make 1.
The 3rd type of support I suggest that you look for is an online support. Groups such as grandparents raising grandchildren. I know some people think Facebook is a nightmare I’m just a bunch of people whining and complaining and shouting at each other over political views. But if you dig deep into the Facebook you can find some great information and great sport. I joined Many groups that support grandparents raising grandchildren. There are definitely places I can go to vent and ask questions. Most of these groups are closed groups this means that it is a private place where you can vent and ask questions and nobody knows who you are other than your photo. But it does not show up on your page so your friends and your family don’t see it. You can get wonderful ideas and things to do with your grandparents there as well and you can post proud pictures of them and receive the support and attention if that’s what you need. It’s a great way to connect with people not just in your area but everywhere because grandparents raising grandchildren is not limited to you or your area it is a global epidemic.
I have also found that pinterest which people think as just a place to go to sea crafts that they’re never going to make or like me crafts that don’t look anything like the picture. But it is a place that has a lot of information if you do search for grandparents raising grandchildren you’ll find all kinds of resources and articles and statistics it’s an amazing place to get information.
Please make sure that you find some kind of support support is so important because you can’t do this alone even if you are married and are raising a grandchildren you both need a place for support you both legal outlets whether it’s together or separately but you find the support. Find funds and that support what you’re doing talk to family members that support what you’re doing or go online and find the support and other people in the same situation.
If you have other ideas for self care or other ways that you have found support that I did not discuss here today please comment or send me a message.

Thank you for following along while I raise these beautiful souls!

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