Nicole Dauz

July 2021

Groundhog Day version 2021 for this caregiver has officially begun.

This week marks two weeks that I’ve been home with my daughter while school is out.

Yes, I’ve taken time off from my day job to take care of her during July and August as there aren’t as many day camp for kids who require 1:1 support during Covid.

The good news is that the province where we live is coming out of lockdown and things are slowly re-opening. 

It’s a big transition as I become her daytime caregiver again. She loves school. She loves seeing her friends. She loves her daily schedule and craves routine. 

The good news is that I feel so much more prepared than I was last year. In 2020, I was unexpectedly off work for six months to be home with my daughter when the global pandemic first started.

There was an unknown timeframe which made it worse as I felt as I had no control over my life. The feelings were intense and negative at the beginning of that experience. 

For the 2021 summer break, I worked intentionally on how I wanted to feel. How I wanted to show up and be fully engaged with my daughter during these nine weeks. I shifted my thoughts from “I have” to be home with my daughter to “I get” to be home with my daughter.

I am grateful that I get to spend this time with her and her brother (who is now 15 years old). 

I will honour this time of a more relaxed schedule.

I will set a schedule to work on my self-care business that complements my priority to care for my kids.

It sounds so very simple, but for this person who holds so many desires and dreams, it can feel stifling at time.

That is my work to do. I’m always a student of life.