How I Felt Like all Seven Dwarfs, Often in ONE Day!
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Walt Disney Productions
- Sleepy– Ben often required assistance throughout the night. I am a NYC public school teacher, and there were days that I could barely keep my eyes open at work, and a classroom is a place where you need to be on your toes. My dad also called many times in the middle of the night if he didn’t feel well, and I would travel about 45 minutes either to his home or to meet him at the Emergency Room. Call me Sleepy!
- Dopey– When juggling Ben’s needs, I did not necessarily know what to do or how to help him, and, indeed, I did feel Dopey. The medical jargon was also confusing to me at times. Simple things just seemed out of reach for me because I became so overwhelmed or was just so tired. I broke things, dropped things, locked myself out of the apartment, and a bevy of other Dopey things.
- Doc– Ben did have medical care, and so did my dad, but when either of them didn’t feel well, sometimes it was up to me to figure out what might help. Sometimes, what we thought could be symptoms of a big problem would just go away. Sometimes I had to seek more advice or help. This is as close to a Doc as I will ever be!
- Happy– There is happiness. Sharing good times, making each other laugh, seeing Ben or my dad enjoy something, successfully meeting a need. Those definitely made me Happy!
- Bashful– Asking for help and not even knowing exactly what to ask for is embarrassing. Having to explain to professionals, or even friends, some things I would have preferred not to discuss, or even know about, was definitely cause for me to feel Bashful!
- Sneezy– Well, this might not apply to everyone, but I’ve got allergies, even to my cat, whose name, by the way, is Disney!
- Grumpy– When you’ve been through all of the above, sometimes in one day, it’s pretty easy to be Grumpy! To anyone who saw that side of me, I do apologize!
I welcome your comments. If you do not see the Comment form at the bottom of this post, click on the title of the post, then scroll to the bottom of the post and it should appear. Thanks.
August 4, 2016 @ 8:58 pm
If there were an eighth dwarf to describe my emotions as a caregiver, I think it would be named “Scared.” When I was a caregiver to my husband, I woke up scared very often: scared that he would have a bad day, scared that I would be too tired to do everything he needed me to do, scared that I would do things wrong and scared at the end of each day that he would not wake up the next morning.
I think this site will help many people. At least they will know that their feelings are normal for a caregiver to experience.
August 4, 2016 @ 9:34 pm
Scared would definitely be another Dwarf that I could relate to. I, too, was so scared of what each day would bring and how we would deal with it.
Thank you for your feedback about the blog. I hope it brings comfort to other caregivers and is a safe place for them to share their feelings.
In Caregiving and in Grief, I Could Be All Seven Dwarfs, Sometimes in ONE Day! – Pixie Dust for Caregivers
December 21, 2016 @ 8:34 am
[…] about how, as a caregiver, I often felt like all seven dwarfs in the course of a single day (click here for that post). To mark this anniversary of the film’s premiere, it seems fitting to me to reflect on how, in […]