Caregiver Burnout Archives - Page 252 of 319

Is there a monster at the end of my book?

I turned 39 yesterday and I want to thank everyone for all the well wishes. I truly appreciate it. I've never been one that was bothered by birthdays or getting older. If you ask Lizze, she'll tell you she sometimes feels like she has four kids. That being said, this is a big one and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Have you ever read There's a monster at the end of this book? It's a kids book staring Grover from Sesame Street. The story is about Grover thinking there was a monster at the end of the book. Each page was a desperate plea to get the reader to stop reading. If the reader didn't continue reading, pages wouldn't be turned and the end of the book…

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August 25, 2017

What we experienced while putting our cat to sleep today

The boys left for my parents house about lunchtime today, and Lizze and I had a quiet afternoon. Neither one of us was looking forward to what 2:30 PM would require us to do. We've been dreading this day and the pain we knew it was going to inflict on all of us, but some things are outside of our control. It's difficult to know just how much an animal can impact our lives until the moment we must say goodbye. Cleo has been a part of our family for over thirteen years and today we laid her to rest. Making the decision to put her to sleep was not one that came easily. We tried for months to get her passed what she was going through but sometimes things…

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August 24, 2017

Cats / Cleo / Elliott / Family Pets / Heartbreak / My thoughts

One reason why this is so heartbreaking for me

The boys have left for my parents house and It feels like a countdown until we head to the vet. This is not how I envisioned spending my birthday. The reason I'm writing is because I wanted to share a letter Elliott wrote yesterday while at school. This is a large part of the reason we didn't send them to school today. Elliott gave his permission to share this because he wants people to know how he's feeling. Below is the letter he wrote. Please be warned, it's absolutely heartbreaking to read. 😭

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August 24, 2017

Cats / Cleo / Elliott / Emmett John / Family Pets / My thoughts

It seems like the right thing to do

Lizze and I have decided to keep the boys home from school tomorrow. They're going to be a mess and there's no benefit to sending them. They will be going to my parents house for the afternoon. That's not going to take the pain away but they will be much more comfortable there than at school. This is going to be hard on everyone and knowing the boys will be with my parents is a comfort. I don't know if this is the right decision but it seems like the right thing to do.

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August 23, 2017

Cats / Cleo / Elliott / Emmett John / Family Pets / My thoughts

The boys are heartbroken

The boys both came home from school today having not eaten anything the whole day. Elliott spent a part of the day crying, as did Emmett. They're really stressed out about losing Cleo. It hadn't occurred to me that Elliott and Emmett have never existed without Cleo. She's been a big part of their lives for their entire lives. I hadn't thought about that before now. This is a much bigger deal from them than I was originally thinking. Cleo was there for them during the separation, and if you recall, Emmett used to snuggle her like a teddy bear. She would tolerate it until he fell asleep and she would sneak away without waking him up. For the first time in their entire lives, they will go to sleep…

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August 23, 2017

Cats / Cleo / Family Pets / My thoughts

We’re heartbroken about tomorrow

The whole having to put Cloe down tomorrow is weighing heavy on us. This time tomorrow, we will be heading to the vet and saying our last goodbyes. Lizze is taking this particularly hard because Cleo has always been glued to her for some reason. Cleo is the kind of cat who always seems to know when you need her attention. We don't even know when we need her attention until she makes it clear that we do. Lol We've had to put down a few animals in our time and it was horrible. My cat Frost, was struck by lightning and survived. He eventually needed put down because of serious internal injuries that presented a few weeks later. There was nothing we could do. 🙁 Lizze had a seven…

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August 23, 2017

My thoughts

Don’t you love mornings like this

The boys had a good morning, although it started much earlier than I'd like. Emmett was awake at 5 AM and ready to start his day. I ended up getting up with him because I generally like to be awake when one of the kids are. I'm sleeping a bit better lately, and so getting up a 5 AM was not a huge deal. The boys got off to school without an issue and I walked almost three miles. The walk was great and I was able to hang out with my Mom, which is always a good thing. I'm feeling pretty good and I'm grateful.

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August 23, 2017

My thoughts

I know we will find a way to get through this

I'm hoping to get back on track in the morning. Today has been a wash as far as productivity is concerned. I was definitely not feeling well for the first half of the day but did much better in the afternoon. I'm getting a bit worried because I still cannot find my wallet and that presents a multitude of problems. I can't get my debit card replaced without my ID, and I can't get my ID replaced without my debit card. It's quite the conundrum and I've not yet figured out how to navigate it. Despite the unpleasantness of everything going on this week, I know we will find a way to get through it.

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August 22, 2017