A few days ago I was fixing mom's dinner and I looked out the back door and I noticed my cat Miles was kind of circling around in a particular area like he was stalking something.
I saw him crouch down and once he took his leap I knew what he was doing. He was chasing grasshoppers. I've seen a lot of grasshoppers in my yard this year. That's kind of unusual but it's no big deal because I'm not growing anything that grasshoppers could chew up and ruin.
Their presence has given Miles a new game, Catch the Grasshopper. The food was at a point where it didn't have to be watched very closely so I could take a little time out and watch my cat play in the yard.
He was having such a good time. He'd pounce on it and catch it and then when he'd move his paw of course the grasshopper would hop away and so then he'd jump up on his hind legs to catch it again as it was trying to fly away.
It was really funny just watching him play in the yard trying to catch these grasshoppers. Sometimes in the seriousness of our life role as family caregiver, we forget to laugh so it's really important that we learn to give ourselves a time out to laugh.
A few years ago I made a commitment to myself to find something to laugh about at least once per day. Laughter was a big part of our home life while I was growing up and I wanted to keep it there despite the challenges of walking through a journey of Alzheimer's dementia.
Journeying through Alzheimer's dementia is extremely emotional so it's really important for me to find outlets for all of those emotions that I'm feeling all at one time. Watching Miles play in the yard gave me a little outlet to laugh while I was doing something that I had to do, fixing a meal.
Miles is getting older so after a few minutes of chasing those grasshoppers he tired himself out and just retired to the back porch to take a long nap and that too was funny.
I've always thought of the world as being full of ticklish events. So, it's really important for me in this very serious role of family caregiver to make time to put myself on time out to laugh.
My encouragement for you this week is to put yourself on time out to laugh at least once during this week.
Be well until next time
Dr. Sheri
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Dr. Sheri L. Yarbrough is an author, caregiver, and founder of Praxis Senior Care-Giving Solutions, a consulting business that provides care-givers with practical and easily implemented strategies that can be tailored to meet their individual care needs.
View Dr. Yarbrough's weekly blog on all things caregiving from a caregiver's perspective.
Listen to Dr. Yarbrough's Podcast: Straight Talk for Giving-Care.
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