One thing I have learned parenting a child with learning differences: it can be intense. Why? Here are just a few reasons.
- Lack of sleep
- Lack of friends who understand
- Relatives who don't understand
- Few breaks from caregiving
- School frustrations
- Concern over what does this child need
- Other family/ work responsibilities
- The long term effects of caregiving
Now, what do I do to lighten this load? Everyone has to make decisions on this one but here are a few decisions I've made.
What are things that I don't need to do? For me, I don't need to clean my house. Someone else can do that. It frees me up to concentrate on other things including my mom responsibilities. I don't need to teach my son every skill he needs. We have someone who takes my son and helps him navigate new life skills. My husband and I get away on trips from time to time. My son can stay on his own but one of our daughters and her husband spend a lot of time with him when we are gone. My husband takes my son and our other children on a trip ve very summer. I stay home and take a break and get projects done that I don't normally do.
Every mom needs to find the things that reduce caregiver stress. The bottom line is that no mom can do it all. I have learned that and the choices I've made have definitely lightened my load as a caregiver.
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