SpecialSaathi’s 100-Day Self-Care Quest weekly update.
SpecialSaathi’s 100-Day Self-Care Quest is moving forward with 18 members. Two members joined the quest recently. The process for compiling data about each person’s selfcare daily minutes is stabilizing. All participants submit the minutes by 10 AM, next day. I compile this data in an Excel file and share with the group in a form of leaderboard, where different fields like ranks and stats of each participant are displayed.
An interesting development in week 3 was the introduction of shared experiences for the group to practice selfcare. #Joyful June
#Joyful June
This week Shilpi Mayank Awasthi shared the Joyful June calendar and encouraged the group to participate.
Message from Shilpi
Sometimes smallest step in the right direction ends up being the biggest step of your life. Tip toe if you must, but take the step.
Today is 5th June.
Can we start practicing this?
So for today I.e. 5th June.
We have to right 3 things we are grateful for:
I am sure it will be fun.
Everyone in this group can mention their 3 things that they are grateful for, here in this group. And most of us did.
Games Night
Another initiative launched this week by Shilpi is Games night. As I am finishing up this blog post Shilpi and others are playing a game! Parents can play the game, have fun, and add some minutes to their SpecialSaathi Selfcare quest too!
So, are you in for Games night ?? “Never have I ever” is today’s theme..🙂 . Other themes been already played in the group were “war of gifs”, “war of memes”, ” Truth and Dare”.
This is one fun and crazy thing that we do here in this SpecialSaathi 24/7 buddy group.
Besides that 100-Day Self-Care Quest/challenge, which is currently going on, where around 18 participants [mothers] take out me- time, self care time, fun time, whatever you wanna call it , for themselves and basically live to the fullest…
” Carpe diem” types..
Sharing and caring about each other’s mental health and physical well-being is the goal of the “SpecialSaathi 24/7 buddy” group.
●This group is solely dedicated to mothers/parents/caregivers who deal with stress and challenges of caring for children with special needs. Group is to raise support and discuss personal well being and mental health. As, parenting a child with special needs is quite overwhelming, and the group is a safe and supportive space where you can vent yourself, share your concerns, seek advice, and find solace in the company of others who are going through similar experiences.
●This group is specifically designed to address your challenges and stresses. So, feel free to discuss your own challenges and problems, and to seek support and advice from others who understand these unique demands of.
●And its open 24/7 to reach our for help related to yourself at any time.
●Let’s provide a source of comfort and reassurance to those who need it most!
Rama’s Weekly Musings
Does your child’s age affect your me-time or selfcare time?
While age is not the best indicator of how much time parents of neurodivergent children have for selfcare, it is one indicator.
• In the earlier years, since I was homeschooling Ananth, I had very little “me time.”
• For many parents, me-time can grow if child becomes more independent.
• Also, because we may find what they are interested in, we may find the right teachers and environments for our child. The child being engaged with other people and environments increases me time for parents.
• If we do the right things, development happens, and children become more communicative. Travel with Ananth is enjoyable now. We don’t have to prepare or worry about what he will do for unpredictable things. For example, when we came back from London about a year ago, we had to wait more than 3 hours at immigration because 3 flights arrived and they were doing some id work. He can handle all these kinds of things much more easily. Then, you time (time spent on teaching Ananth), we time, and us time can all become more enjoyable and part of selfcare.
• Stress may not necessarily decrease with age. The amount of time needed for the child may continue to be high as the child grow. While age is only one factor, there are many reasons why the situation might improve and we may have more time for ourselves over time… May be age is not the right variable, but I don’t know what else can be used…
Creative representation for this blog is done by our extremely talented CreativeSaathi associate Morpheus Nag