A CARE GIVERS OLYMPIC EVENT

If care givers were in an Olympic event, would they earn a medal?

If I could compare care giving to the Olympics and say that I won medals, it would be from participating in the decathlon or the heptathlon, from their 7 to 10 event spectacle lasting 6 to 8 hours and 5 to 7 shoes (for their sprinting, jumping, throwing, and running events)
 and later with a minimum of 30 minutes rest in between events. "Factor in stretching, refueling, and finding the bathroom, It can feel as quick as a Formula 1 pit stop."

 As the decathlon has lost its spot as the Olympics' glamour sport so also has care giving lost its glamour after the honeymoon.

Care Giver shirt favorite

 
The two days of decathlon competition are a grueling 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. slog, with the occasional burst of activity.  As so is care giving with its grueling slogs of long and short bursts of activity.
 10 events stretching over two days: 100- meter dash, long jump, shot-put, high jump and 400-meter race the first day; 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500-meter run the second.
The Care giver decathlon is an any where event, managing 10 things at once in order to get one thing done!  It is a rugged test of physical and mental endurance.
 That workout you get when moving more boxes of depends and chuks from the porch and looking for space to place them without making the place look like a medical warehouse.

Care Giver Hoodie

Sprinting ...the dash you make when you hear a sudden crash of your loved one to the floor and know something dreadful has just transpired.
Don't squat!  You might not make it back up.
The Olympic champion is the care giver who best manages the endless waiting for his next jump, throw, or run—will get some honors by default.
The best events are the long jump, the hurdles, the high jump. 
Until your care giving days come to a screeching halt, you're "alone", decathlon athletes are loners, lonesome fighters.

For two days or days on end, 13 hours a day, you're out alone in your stadium called home. You have to like that, to be good. Because mostly, that's what care giving is all about.

  You're family has a front row seat to the chaos and cacophony of events.

 The most important lesson I learned in all of this is how little we plan for the inevitable crises — and how much wisdom and help is needed.

“Everything flows, nothing stands still. Nothing endures but change.” Heraclitus, Greek Philosopher

I seriously doubt that care givers would be given a spot in the Olympic Events.
But if such a contest existed, would a care giver earn a medal?