Join us every Thursday for insights and strategies focused on you, the caregiver as we dive into our toolbox discussion for practical tips on nurturing, resilience, and empowerment. A day to connect, share, and strengthen our support network.
Today is caregiver day. Whether you're a parent or not, hang with me today because I think this conversation really can serve all of us. I hope all of you are doing well and enjoying this week post spring break.
In some way, shape or form, we are inspired by being caregivers. Sometimes you feel like you're alone, and no one understands what you're going through. And until you meet someone else who does, who sees you, who understands the struggles. Today, talk about community.
The moral of this story, the moral of my message today is leaning into community. Who in your life, who do you know that you can ask for help? I feel that community is what can heal all of us caregivers in those moments of trials. We can't do it alone.
Where can you look for help around something that you feel really stuck in? Caring for someone 24/7 takes time, effort, energy, and so much of you. When that time comes, that we still need to remind ourselves of who we are.
Hello, friends. Happy Thursday. How is everybody doing? We are live. Today is caregiver day, so Thursday, we've had an incredible lineup thus far. It is me, myself, and I. Normally it would be myself, Jill, and my business partner and bestie, Mary. We are dividing and conquering right now. We have another phone call, so I get to hang out out with you guys live. So nice to see you again. Hi, everyone. Oh, jungfood junkie. What's up? So good to see your name on here. My name is Jill and I am a part of.
I'm a co founder with Mary. We own a company called Girls Mentorship. And why we are on Thursday's lineup is because we inform, we support, and we inspire other people to love on the younger generations. And I mean parents, if you are not caregivers, you know what I mean? I don't know who are the biggest caregivers besides parents. So whether you're a parent or not, hang with me today because I think this conversation really can serve all of us. Whether you are a caregiver to an elderly, whether you are a parent or a caregiver in a different way.
So welcome. Happy Thursday to you guys and junk food junkie. Thank you. Thanks for saying hi. You're gonna hear my voice crackling because I'm getting over a sickness. I don't know about any of you guys, if you've experienced the flu or this, like, crud that's going around, but last week was my kids spring break, and we all, we all got it. So talk about caregiver at its finest. I was not only trying to care for two sick babies, one kiddo who had strep, but I'm overcoming the sickness. Mary, we passed along to her.
Oh, man. So I hope all of you are doing well and enjoying this week post spring break. If you also were on spring break last week, as we're, like, enjoying the sunshine and beautiful weather in the spring on this spring day. So today, what I want to talk about is the concept of community. Now, we're all tuning in to this. Live all of these lives today because in some way, shape or form, we are inspired by being caregivers. And when I think of being a caregiver, sometimes you feel like you're alone, like you're on an island all by yourself, and no one understands what you're going through, what you're experiencing.
And until you meet someone else who does, who sees you, who understands the struggles as well as the beautiful moments in those hardships. So today I wanted to talk about community and I also want to pull in an example of my mom and how this ties into the conversation around community. So my mom is a caregiver to my grandmother. They live in Colorado. My mom's in her sixties, my grandmother's in her early nineties, and my grandmother lives with my mom. They've been roommates now for a couple of years.
And I hear my mom struggle now that my grandmother is declining and getting older, around how hard it is on her mental health. And I have encouraged her several times to take care of herself, to ask for friends to come over to support her so she can go to the gym or have some time to herself. But she's fallen into this. I can't get out of anyone caring for her mother the way that she cares for her. And if you are tuning into this right now, I don't know if that really, if you can relate to that and if you can let me know.
Because sometimes we feel like our loved ones can only be loved by us and no one else can do it better. I know specifically for me, being a mom and a business owner to our business is us caring for girls in their tween and teen years, those really fragile developmental moments in their life. And sometimes I find myself as a mother and a business owner being like, no one can do it as good as me. Now, going back to my mom's story, it's been a couple of years now that she's been my grandmother's full time care tech.
Take her. And when I call her and check in on her, on both of them, sometimes it's really, really hard to separate and empathize and show compassion for her because she's just stuck in complaining. She's stuck in the, it's hard. No one understands. I don't want to ask for help because my grandma doesn't want anybody to come in and help her. There's just, there's a lot, there's a lot of emotion that goes into it. And again, I have to check myself in those moments of expressing my compassion and showing my empathy because I can't imagine.
I can't imagine. I helped caretake for my father in law, who unfortunately passed away a couple of years ago with cancer. And I can relate to a capacity, but living it 24/7 is a lot. Offering suggestions and offering support and help with my mom. It's hard because she can't see past what's in front of her. And I want to invite her and I want to invite all of us who are in those moments of care care taking, whether it's parenting or whether you are taking care of a sick family member or something else, that you just feel like no one can do it better.
I want to invite all of us in this conversation to really think of community. Who in your life, who do you know that you can ask for help? And maybe it's not help right now, but maybe it's jumping on the phone with a dear friend because they can listen from a place of love and non judgment to offer a listening ear. And maybe, maybe a glimmer of advice. Maybe if you are that person, it's asking that person, you know, what do you need right now? Or would you be open to me suggesting something? Because sometimes when I do that for my mom, she's not open to it.
And sometimes I need to say it regardless of if she wants to hear it or not, because I'm here to help. So the moral of this story, the moral of my message today is leaning into community. And knowing that you don't have to go through some of those hard days that turn into two days, that turn into weeks that turn into months where sometimes it feels like Groundhog's day and you're like, no one gets it. And will I ever get through this? Will I ever see the end? Or will I ever feel like me again? Because I know we've all been there, but truly, I really feel, in my belief, I feel that community is what can heal all of us caregivers in those moments of trials in those valleys when you literally cannot see the mountaintop.
So for my mom, it's offering her, mom, can we get you a day nurse who only comes in a couple of times a week, like my brother and myself, like, we want to be willing to help. And she's stubborn. She is. Bless her heart. I get it from somewhere. I thank my mama, but sometimes she can't again, she can't see what's really in front of her to invite the help in. And although we haven't made a ton of strides in getting my mom the help she needs to lighten the load, take the burden off of her plate, I know, hopefully one day, I know, hopefully one day, with consistency and compassion and love, that she will see that.
That she will. And for myself, as. As I'm growing this business and I'm telling myself no one can do it as good as Mary and I, loving on these teenagers who so desperately need other people besides their parents to pour into them, I have to remove myself from it being about me because that's when we get stuck is when we make it about ourselves. I need to zoom out and tell myself, man, there are a lot of incredible people in this world that would want to come into what we're creating and pour into these kids because I know I can't do it alone.
Neither can all of you guys. Hang in with me today. We can't do it alone. So where? Where in your sphere? Whether it's the Cadre sphere, whether it's in your community, whether it's in your neighborhood, whether it's in your parent group, where can you look for help around something that you feel really stuck in? Is it with a kiddo that you're experiencing challenges? Is there a forum that you can go to? Is there someone that you can pick up the phone and ask to just listen because you feel like you're drowning in emotions and you can't get out of the funk.
Where in your life can you call on someone else to support you? Because I'm telling you, it is the greatest gift to serve each other and one another. Because I guarantee you, right now in my life, I have the time and the capacity and the space, but I know there will be a season where I'm going to have to call on other people to support me. So that's the message today, friends, and I'm just gonna check in to see what you guys said. Jules, that is what my mom did with her late husband. I would tell her I would stay with him, but she didn't want to place that burden on me.
Totally. Isn't it amazing? It's just like parents. They don't want you to feel the way that they feel, so they're just taking it all on themselves. And I have to remind my mom sometimes, too. Around mom, this isn't going to last forever. And I know that feels like her forever feels like right now. Like that is all she knows to be true, is that every day it feels the same. But I want to remind her that when my grandmother passes, because it will be sometime soon, that she still needs to remind herself of who she is, because it will be such a void in her life.
Caring for someone 24/7 takes time, effort, energy, and so much of you. And I want a reminder that when. When that time comes, that we still need to remind ourselves of who we are. We are someone outside of the label, that we are caretakers, and that's where that community piece comes in. Junk food junkie, you said. Yes, I can relate to your mom's situation, because now I have become my dad's caretaker in so many ways since my mom's passing. It is so true. And parents take care of us when we are kids and when they become elderly, their roles are reversed.
You're absolutely right. And it's hard. I know that. It's just funny how life works and how we operate as human beings. We are so connected to one another, and at some points in our life, we needed our parents and the roles reversed where our parents need us. And I do. I find myself parenting my mom because she is so stubborn at times where I'm like, mom, you need help, and how can I help you let me in. Because she's so hardened by her brothers not helping. And I don't want her to feel that that's how people are.
There are people in this world, in her community, in her friend group that want to come and help and love on her. So my message today, I hope you find yourself in that message, whether you can relate to it in some way, shape or form, or if you're sitting there on the other end being like, you know what? I know someone who is a caretaker, who is struggling, that I can actually reach out and just check in. How are you doing? What do you need from me? I'm here to help because that alone can unlock that person feeling like they're isolated and alone by themselves.
So, y'all, the light in me honors and sees the light in all of you who are, who are here with me today and catching this recording. So just remember, there is one more amazing creator after us at 01:00 today. So if you are feeling good and you have time to get poured into one more time today, please check back in in the next 45 minutes. But I want you to go out and be the light. Be the light for yourselves first and foremost, so that you can be the light for those that you love and care for. And we will see you next week.
You'll catch both Mary and I next Tuesday when we talk about the trending topics that we are talking about, keeping you guys updated and informed, and then we'll catch you again next week. I hope you guys have a wonderful and blessed Thursday.
