Radical Self-Care For Caregivers

When I came across the term Radical Self-Care in Almost Everything, Notes On Hope by Anne Lamott (2018), I naturally thought of both moms and childcare providers and how much we need that sort of thing.

Anne Lamott’s been one of my very favorite authors for 26 years, ever since my friend gave me a copy of Operating Instructions (1993) and she never fails to amaze me with her truth and compassion.  Here's her definition of Radical Self-Care, found on twitter.

Radical self-care is the secret of joy, resistance, freedom. When we care for ourselves as our very own beloved—with naps, healthy food, clean sheets, a lovely cup of tea—we can begin to give in wildly generous ways to the world, from abundance.

To me and hopefully, to you, Radical Self-Care means getting down to the basics and giving ourselves the care, love, and attention that we should have had from the very beginning of our lives. But this time, doing it for ourselves.

That way anything else others do for us is just icing on the cake of happiness. From that point of loving, we can effortlessly give some of our time, wisdom, and kindness to others without feeling drained of our own vitality.

Here are a few of my favorite ideas for Radical Self-Care. Please create your own and never, ever let anyone make you feel guilty about caring for yourself in the best way you know how.

• Cook yourself a 5-course meal and serve it on your best dinnerware.

• Eat organic vanilla ice cream for dinner in your favorite PJ’s on the couch.

• Watch a Cold Case marathon till you fall asleep.

• Fill a room with sand, a kiddie pool, lawn chairs and full-spectrum lighting. Read for hours

• Exercise in your favorite way for 40 minutes the first thing every morning.

• Refuse to take things personally.

• Believe in yourself even when others question you.

• Sleep on your own schedule and eat healthy food when you're hungry.

• Take a slow walk in the sun.

• Watch Beauty and The Beast

• Spend more time looking at family photos and talking about them.

• Tell your family you're taking 30 minutes to yourself for teatime and rejuvenation and close the door!

• Dance!

• Make up your own mind about whether or not you want to attend a function.

• Go for a walk when you know you should be writing.

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Get the exact words to use when dealing with common childhood issues like cleaning up, tattling, or positive communication in this slideshow I designed for early childhood educators and parents.

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Nanci J Bradley is an early childhood and family educator, author, teacher, family aerobics instructor, and all-around fun-loving person. She believes in the power of sleep, healthy eating, lifelong learning, and most of all, PLAY!  (click on the word) She studied early childhood education at Triton College and received her BS in education in 1986 from NIU. She received her MA in human development from Pacific Oaks College in 2011. She lives and teaches in Madison WI.