Workin’ 9 to 5
Juggling care and work can have its challenges. Coming home from a hard days work only to put your caring hat on is tough. Tell us how you find a balance between work and care or how not participating in the workforce has impacted on you.
I juggle a full time job, & a part time job with the needs of my HIV positive partner. My partner is always symptomatic and unwell and mangages the stress in her life by using illicit drugs which makes everything that much more challenging. I'm lucky that my partner and i live in sydney thereby having access to some HIV and AOD support services. Some days i dont know where i'd be without this support.... Financially it can be difficult- sometimes i would just love to be able to spend all my money on myself- but i have priorities because my partners health come first. ANyway- its so great to know that there is help for Carers and that people recognise the importance of the caring role.
It is really difficult to balance work and caring. I work part time in three different jobs, and care for three children, two of whom have disabilities. I try and schedule things as much as possible, in order to keep on top of things. I try and prepare and cook meals in advance, and have certain days and times that certain tasks need to be completed. I try and schedule "me" time and "couple" time into my day if possible, and not stress too much if something doesnt get done on the day, or the next. Sometimes I really enjoy throwing away the list altogether and having a day where I just can be with the kids, and not worry about the washing, or other demands. It is still a challenge to co-ordinate appointments across work and home, so now I use the home answering machine, to leave messages for myself for when I get home! It works most times, except when the message gets wiped before I hear it, lol. I still need to remind myself to create space for quiet, and also to have a laugh, as things can get stressful, and too busy.
When we received our diagnosis about 4 years ago, i would never have thought working fulltime and renovating a house inbetween fulltime work and caring would ever be a possibility.
The message I want to share is, dont ever limit your life because of the carer role. Most carer's are not a carer by choice, but by love.
My family, employer and support team are all supportive of every choice we make and approaches to lifes battles are fed by that.
My favourite quote when asked about our future is "Autism is not a limit on potential. You dont know the potential of any child, my son is no different".
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