Finding ways to support someone experiencing a loss is essential. You might not know what to do, but this information will help you figure it out.
Surviving after a loved one, like a spouse, passes away can take a toll on your physical and mental health. Honestly, one of the greatest pains in the world is dealing with loss. It’s painful, but sadly, death is a natural part of life.
However, it doesn’t make it easy, no matter how natural it is. There’s the pain of knowing you’ll never see them again, and there are other aspects like finances for funerals, medical bills, estate planning, and sometimes just family drama that comes out.
When someone passes away, you’ll 100% need a support system. But what if it’s on the other end? What if someone close to you experiences an immediate loss? There are some things you can do to help them get through this tough time in their life, and they’ll be forever grateful.
Listen to Them to support someone experiencing a loss
Sometimes, all you can really do is be that shoulder to cry on, that person to hug, that listening ear. Listening is a gift that can comfort and reassure someone who has experienced a loss. Sometimes, a grieving person needs someone to be there without commenting or offering advice. Be sure to focus on listening intently and try not to interrupt. Avoid distractions by not picking up your phone and making eye contact while you listen. You can also show your support by squeezing their hand or giving a reassuring hug.
Offer Practical Help
While some people will do their funeral and cremation preplanning, for the average person, it’s not like that, and funeral arrangements will need to be done in advance. They’re going to have a lot on their mind with the funeral and the cost, and there might be a chance that they’ll still have other responsibilities like taking care of kids, pets, the house, etc. It’s so much pressure and might feel unbearable.
Many grievers are overwhelmed by the tasks of everyday life after a loss. They may be grateful for help with chores, grocery shopping, or cooking. You can also offer support by allowing them to use you as a sounding board for their thoughts and feelings. Sometimes, just cleaning up or getting them food can do so much.
Just Be Present
Sometimes, the best thing you can do is be there. So just be present, show your love, and give help. Grieving for a loved one is hard and can be incredibly lonely. Check in with them regularly, and consider arranging a time to meet. It can be anything from dropping in to bring them dinner to making an appointment for help with legal issues or a home repair. Just show your love the best way you can.
Caring for a family member or someone close to you can be a tough ask. It not only asks you to reorient your schedule but to cope with some difficult circumstances. You will feel like there is always more to do, and more things to learn and understand. Even so, you likely want to become a better & more competent caregiver to your loved one.
There are many who act as daily caregivers for someone close to them. It’s a tough job, and it takes time. Most personal caregivers don’t have much training in this field either, making it even more difficult.
Personal caregivers do what they believe is right, try their hardest every day, and spend time trying to become a better & more competent caregiver. For this reason, they unlock quality of life for those they care about and are seen as an absolute blessing.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t take away from how difficult the job can be in the first place. For this reason, it’s important that caregivers don’t force themselves to carry the entire world on their shoulders, enlisting help where necessary, and using methods to try and become a better & more competent caregiver.
If you’re reading this post, you’re no doubt much more caring and effective than you’re giving yourself credit for. These tips can help you even further.
How to Become a Better & More Competent Caregiver
1. Use Government Programs To Help You
Listing yourself as a caregiver can often help you unlock access to a range of supplementary programs to make your life easier. This might involve a ‘meals on wheels’ delivery service to make cooking and cleanup much easier.
There are also many excellent support programs (such as one-off payments for heating the home in winter) that you can look into. Speak to your local government about what support options you have – they could make your life much easier.
2. Use The Professionals
It’s fine to admit that a caregiving job may not be totally in your hands anymore. Or, may need to spend more time on other areas of your life. This is where services that offer in-home and professional care for seniors could be effective.
Having a qualified professional take over your most pressing duties and keep up with a daily standard of care that is hard to find elsewhere while still keeping you involved in the process could be a real lifesaver. Many caregivers find they can live a real life outside of caregiving with this kind of aid to support them.
3. Use Covid-Protective Measures
Caregiving has become even more difficult in the midst of the Covid pandemic. Being unable to head out as often, the limited socialization, and the worry of getting sick has been on our minds for almost a year now. However, it’s important to somewhat automate these Covid concessions to make them easier to deal with.
Keeping masks, gloves, disinfectant and antibacterial spray can help you and the person you care for stay safe and healthy. It’s best to not take any chances.
Being a caregiver is hard work, but you can make it a little easier on yourself. You don’t have to sacrifice the standard of care you give, either. Use these tips to become a better & more competent caregiver. Sometimes understanding and using your resources is all it takes.
Do you have any other tips to add to this? Let me know in the comments!
Family life has its challenges. It doesn’t matter where you live or how much money you have, you’re probably going to run into some struggles. That being said, there are numerous ways you can make your family life easier and more enjoyable.
If you’re not happy with the way things are for you right now, or you know you could do with less stress and more joy, try some of these suggestions!
How to Make Your Family Life Easier and Happier
Make Sure Everybody Has Responsibility
One of the best ways to make your life easier and more enjoyable is to make sure everybody has responsibility. They should have responsibility for their own space as well as the house in general.
If your teens have had friends over, make sure they know it’s their responsibility to tidy up. If they have been cooking or made a mess some other way, ensure you raise them knowing that it’s their job to clean it.
It’s also a good idea to ensure that your family has equal responsibility when it comes to any pets. Feeding, grooming, and walking pets, shouldn’t just be your job. Responsibility for both the house and pets will make you a stronger family unit and ensure your life is far more enjoyable.
Eat One Meal Together Each Day
Eating one meal together each day might not seem possible at first. After all, you have work, school, and other things going on. However, the meal doesn’t have to be dinner.
You could all have breakfast together, or if it’s possible you could have lunch together. If you can find the time to put all of your devices and work away and spend time eating together for a short amount of time every day, you will notice so many benefits. Studies have proven that doing this can help kids perform better at school, will help them avoid peer pressure, and more.
It doesn’t matter what you want to eat, whether you’ve got the best frozen Chinese food out of the freezer for a homemade takeaway, or you want to make your own pizzas and everyone gets a slice of each. As long as you’re taking the time to be together while eating, you’ll reap the benefits of a family mealtime.
At our house, we all eat dinner together each evening. We don’t allow phones or other electronic devices during this time, and we make it a point to talk about our day. One person begins by asking someone else, “What was the best part of your day?”, and the person being asked answers the question.
Then, the person who just answered the question will ask the next person the same question. We do this until everyone has talked about their day. It usually lasts the entire time because it really gets the kids talking.
Eat The Same Things Each Week
Eating the same things each week will help you get a handle on food prep, as well as your shopping. Eating the same meals on corresponding days throughout the week can help you to make mealtimes more of a fun tradition, too. You can keep your food budget down this way and ensure food shopping is more effective.
Doing laundry and ironing can feel like it takes ages to complete. However, with the help of items like ironing spray, you can minimize the time spent doing this and ensure your family remains clean and tidy.
It’ll help your clothes last longer, too. There’s no need to do a full wash after every single wear.
Child Proof Your Home
If you ever worry about your children hurting themselves at home, it’s a good reason to spend time childproofing your home. Here are some ways you can do this:
Ensure there’s nothing your children can get tangled up in, such as blind cords.
Avoid leaving children unattended if you have ponds, pools, and other bodies of water in the yard. It only needs to be shallow to suffer the devastating consequences.
Get down to their level and see if you can spot any hazards.
Cover up sharp corners.
Avoid having hard floors with no rugs.
Use dark colors and ensure materials wipe clean.
Find Fun Things To Do Together
Doing fun things together brings you closer together as a family. There are so many more things out there you can do instead of just watching TV or playing on electronics!
Why not go on hikes, try arts and crafts, or read together? These are the moments you will treasure when your kids have grown up. Plus, it’s always a good idea to avoid too much screen time.
Avoid Cluttering Up Your Home
When you have a family, the home can become easily cluttered. If you need help figuring out how to improve this, take a look at Marie Kondo on Netflix.
Keeping the things that truly bring you joy will make your home a tidier, happier place. Rather than buying your kids useless toys that they will use once and forget about (not to mention the plastic use and environmental impact this has), invest in experiences for them and things they can use again and again.
Download Apps
Apps can help to give you peace of mind. Some of them will help you know where your family is if they are out with friends or elsewhere. You can even use certain apps to control different parts of the house from a remote location. You can make it look like you are home by turning on the lights, for instance, even when you’re at work.
Take A Break From The Screen
When you take a break from the screen, you’ll have less stuff cluttering up your brain. You’ll also have more time to focus on your family life and immediate surroundings. Get creative and find new things to do!
Focus On What You Can Control
Rather than worrying about what you can’t control, focus on what you can control. You won’t always be able to stop bad things from happening, but you can put things into perspective and work on the things that are in your control.
Coming up with capsule wardrobes for each family member will have a tremendous impact on both your lives and the planet. You’ll save money, have high-quality pieces you can use again and again, and find getting dressed so much easier. This guide will help you get it right.
Prioritize What’s Important To You As A Family
Different things are important to different families. Having a family motto can help you to define your values and morals and ensure your kids grow up to be great people. It’ll also allow you to better communicate with one another, and make decisions from a good place.
How are you going to make your family life easier and more enjoyable? Let us know in the comments!
Life hasn’t always been perfect or easy for us, has it? We always make it through, though, and come out stronger than before. It’s what we do.
That’s the reason I know we are meant to be together, babe. No matter what life throws our way, we get through it together. No matter the obstacle, we stick together and never stop loving each other.
We never give up on us.
Each bad time we go through is worth it. The good times make everything worth it. Your touch, your smile, your laugh, the way you care about me and take care of me… how did I ever get so lucky? How could I ever give it up?
When I’m with you, I know that whatever happens, you’ll take care of me. You’ll keep me safe and help me through anything. When you are around, I know that I matter.
I’m in love with you and this crazy life we have built together, babe. I love the way we grow together, learn together, and change together. Instead of letting life’s obstacles pull us away from each other, we always do it all together.
I wouldn’t want to go through this journey without you. You’re my best friend and my soulmate.
I never want to experience anything without you by my side. And those rare times when you aren’t there with me, I spend my time wishing you were there to share the experience with. It’s all I want in life.
More than anything, I hope I make you happy. I hope you never find yourself regretting our life together, or even wishing you could be somewhere else. I hope you always know how much I love you, even on the days when I’m being difficult and unreasonable.
Thank you for all that you have given me… beautiful children, the chance to experience true love, a happy life, a full heart, the home we live in, and all the other things you have provided for us.
You are an amazing husband, daddy, and provider. I love how hard you work for us, and I appreciate it and am so grateful always.
I love you babe, and I’m so excited about the rest of our lives.
XOXO,
Your Wife
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The day I gave him this letter we had a relaxing day at home, and I pulled out this game (not really a game… more of an activity, I guess?) that I bought for us. It was so much fun and really got us talking and laughing together with nothing but these simple cards. It’s a memory that will stay with me forever.
What would you write in a letter to your husband or wife? Tell me about it in the comments!! Better yet, join my marriage challenge and write them a letter for day 1!
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