Lately I’ve been thinking about fragility. About how we are all connected by caring and how very, very lucky I am to be alive. It feels almost accidental. The images above are actually framed photos, side by side, in my home office. They were a gift from our daughter Natalie
Continue readingAuthor: The Caregivers' Living Room
THE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: Now is the time to – Reach Out Your Heart
Recently, my friend who is also a caregiver sent me this poem and it soothed my soul. I hope it soothes yours, too. Pandemic What if you thought of it as the Jews consider the Sabbath — the most sacred of times? Cease from travel. Cease from buying and selling. Give
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: Connecting Kids With Grandparents – Even Long Distance!
With all the online talk about the Corona Virus, I thought I would be different and blog today about something positive (and it’s also a timely consideration if you or your loved ones are homebound due to quarantines or any other reason). Kerry Byrne is a friend and caregiving expert.
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: A Cool Tool For Balancing Caregiving With…LIFE
There is so much talk about self-care in the online caregiving discourse that it’s just plain exhausting. What we need is a simple and realistic way to think about how to meet our own physical and emotional needs while we give care to another. I think I found a good
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: Happy National Caregivers Day, 2020!
In the USA, the third Friday in February is designated as National Caregivers Day. This year, it’s today – February 21! The first National Caregivers Day was February 19, 2016. The Providers Association for Home Health and Hospice Agencies (PAHHHA) founded the national day of observance in 2015. Their goal was to create
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: Caregiver Burnout: Fact & Fiction
This morning a caregiver posted this in a Facebook group: “Well, today I crashed. That is all.” Responses from other well-meaning caregivers were varied. One wrote, “No you didn’t! You can pick yourself up and keep going. You can do it!” Another wrote, “Maybe if you wrote what happened, get it
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: The Passionate Ordinary
I feel so lucky to be part of a small group of writers in my town. We are all women. Most of us are mothers and caregivers. Whenever it pleases us, we convene in someone’s living room with coffee and someone’s gift of muffins or cookies. Recently, our chosen topic
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: I’M DREAMING OF……A RETREAT
I am very excited and proud to be a co-creator (with Dr. Aaron Blight, Dr. Zachary White and Amanda La Rose, LCSW) of the new Caregiver Transformation Retreat. Read on to learn what retreats mean to me. All of us have been transformed by caregiving. Now we have an opportunity
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: AGAINST ALL ODDS – Blending Research and Disability Parenting
It is my pleasure to host this guest post today from Queen’s University doctoral candidate, Lorraine (Read more…). I was amazed by Lorraine’s story of perseverance and her research question about how we as parents of adult children with disabilities use social media for support. This is an international study,
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: My Wish For You: To Continue
A good friend shared with me these words from the late wonderful and wise poet, Maya Angelou. They are so appropriate for the beginning of a new year and new decade. Continue by Maya Angelou My wish for you is that you continue…Continue to be who and how you are,
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: WHAT THIS CAREGIVER REALLY THINKS
–> It is always my privilege to host the writing of Diane Stonecipher. Here, Diane reflects on the social, moral and political implicationsof her experience caring for her son. Diane and her family live in Texas. For as much attention as caregiving is finally getting, it can still be a very invisible
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: Using Your Lived Experience to Influence Health Research
I am a parent partner in disability health research. Caregiver partners in research use their lived experience to influence WHAT is researched and HOW it’s researched. We have the opportunity to ease the path of care for other families and improve opportunities for our own loved ones by increasing our
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: A Quebec Court Ruling Threatens Canadians With Disabilities
Our son enjoys an excellent ‘ordinary life’ with the support of his helpers, medical professionals, friends and family. As a person with chronic pain, he spends most of his time lying down in bed, a place of comfort from which he writes a hockey blog, Skypes friends, tweets opinions and conducts
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: The Before and DURING of Caregiving Relationships
Yesterday, the co-author of our book The Unexpected Journey of Caring, Dr. Zachary White and I were chatting about a workshop that he gave to spousal caregivers attending the Well Spouse Association‘s annual conference. Zachary was helping caregivers try out language to describe the transforming nature of their spousal relationship –
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: NEED TO KNOW INFO ON MOBILITY SCOOTERS
I am pleased to host this guest post about mobility scooters – what kind of questions to ask a salesperson and how to locate funding assistance, no matter where you live. Purchasing a mobility device is a big decision but it can mean MORE independence, not less. Donna How expensive
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: Happy Thanksgiving!
To everyone who celebrates with family this week, Happy Thanksgiving! A Caregiver’s Thanksgiving Blessing Thank you for the good days and for the strength to get through the bad ones. Thank you for the friends and family who have ever given us a gift of food, a ride, their companionship
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: The Month of November – It’s Important for Two Reasons
November is a sombre month. The leaves have fallen where I live, and the skies are steely gray. Rain changes to sleet and then back to rain again. Geese cry overhead.On the streets, most people are wearing poppies. “Lest we forget” is a warning phrase we see in bus stations,
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: The Cost of Silencing Yourself
Yesterday I was driving home from a hospital clinic appointment for our son (it was routine and went fine) and as usual, I was listening to the radio. I began to listen intently to the story of Leah Hager Cohen, a 50 year old Canadian who made a silent vow
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: COME LEARN WITH US FOR FREE!
Recently Dr. Zachary White and I gave a webinar as part of a series of free, supportive learning events for caregivers sponsored by the Department of Continuing Education at McMaster University. “Caregiving Essentials” is the title of an upcoming series of online webinars for caregivers. Check it out! Zachary and
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: The Caregiver Easy But Effective Exercise Routine
I always feel SO much better when I move my body, even it’s just five minutes of stretching. And I have always loved sports – my favourites as a child were riding, skiing and dancing. But then caregiving entered my life and I became mostly homebound. My exercise became cleaning
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