As an educator, I was a caretaker.
As a big sister and mother, I was and still am a caretaker.
As a volunteer, I have been a caretaker.
As a daughter, I am a caretaker.
Lately, one of my main roles in life has been that of a caretaker. At school, the work of taking care of children was established--I worked with a team in a supportive educational environment. Now, as a daughter, wife, and mom that takes care of people, I find there isn't as supportive an environment to work with or lean on. Instead this caretaking is more like a choose-your-own-adventure book with one personal choice after another about how to move forward.
While I have many friends doing similar work, each of our paths is different and distanced enough that we can't readily rely on each other for support. They are there for a good conversation or in times of need, but unlike school, there's no regular caretaking team to support these new caretaking paths. Even when my children were in school, there was a large team of moms and dads to work with and lean on, but now that they are young adults, it's not the same.
Since I like to work as a team member and profit greatly from group think and group work, it's clear that I'll have to reach out to find new teams to engage with as I embark on this new chapter of caretaking. I've already begun exploring this proposition, and I'll continue to do that.
I truly enjoy helping people out--I like the problem solving that goes along with helping people access the materials, activities, and supports they need. I enjoy creating welcoming, supportive environments for people too. While caretaking is not necessarily glamorous work, I find it to be satisfying work. I always liked the time-on-task people-centered efforts in school, and I also enjoy this as a caretaker.
The challenge is to learn how to do this job well. What have I learned so far?
- A healthy, positive care pattern and routine helps a lot.
- As in teaching, to be all work and no play, makes you a dull caretaker--you have to make time for your interests and self-care.
- Good communication is vital and that will look different depending on the caretaking situation.
- Planning and lead time help you to do a good job.
- Vision and revision as needed is necessary--you have to ask yourself the big questions related to the caretaking situation, and figure out where you are headed with the work you do.