Caregiver burnout

Here’s a term I hadn’t heard but am very familiar with. I have caregiver burnout in part due to COVID-19. All these year’s I’ve been caregiving for my mother I have had little “breaks” where I could get away. Sometimes for a week other time for 2 weeks. In fact I had a mission trip to Guatemala with Joyce Meyer ministers scheduled this year. We were leaving the last Saturday in April, Whelp you know that didn’t happen and now it’s been close to a year that I haven’t had a break.

Last year in July, when I retired from the Army, I went to Malaysia and that was fantastic. I was blessed to schedule my “breaks” every 6 months months as I look back now. Which is just amazing but now with the pandemic no one is or should be going anywhere.

I wake up on the weekends and think “boy it would be nice just to sleep in until noon.” But I can’t so of course I get up and start the day by giving momma her meds then changing her and the normal hygiene rituals everyone does then it’s breakfast. After that I let her nap then I go about what I need to do in the house. Sometimes I get a nap in also! Then it’s time to check her and then lunch then I could go on. It’s like ground hog day!

I can’t understand how something that I truly get joy from is also something I feel is holding me back. I am not resentful just exhausted. I think that Is my my caregiver burnout.