Spotlighting Caregiver's Day for Familes That Experienced Parental Death

"February 20 is National Caregivers Day, celebrating caregivers everywhere, whether they are friends, professional caregivers, or family members, for the hard physical and emotional work they do that often goes unseen. Caregivers also include surviving parents trying to navigate their grief after the death of their spouse, while also supporting children who are trying to navigate their grief from the death of their parent."

"Being a parent is challenging. Being a parent after a spouse dies is even more challenging. Parents put their children's needs before their own, but when a spouse dies, the surviving parent is suddenly distracted by the death of their spouse. The new normal is not simply being a parent, but being a parent to a child who just lost their other parent, while the spouse tries to tend to their own grief at the same time. This is no easy task."

"It is like the flight attendants announce before every flight during the emergency procedures review: You are supposed to put on your own oxygen mask first before helping someone else put theirs on. As a parent, it's often biologically programmed for parents to put their children's needs first before tending to their own. When a parental death occurs, surviving parents reflexively tend to their children's needs more than their own, because now they are not just parenting their children; they are parenting grieving children."

February 20 is National Caregivers Day, honoring caregivers including friends, professionals, family members, and surviving parents. Surviving parents must navigate their own grief after a spouse's death while supporting children grieving the loss of a parent. Parenting while grieving creates a new normal that combines caring for children and managing personal sorrow. Parents often prioritize children's needs and may reflexively focus on comforting grieving children rather than addressing their own grief. Neglecting personal grief care can lead to caregiver burnout, especially after becoming a single parent. Balancing personal grieving time with caregiving responsibilities is essential for emotional health.

Read at Psychology Today