Kimberly Hirsh logo Kimberly Hirsh

I get annoyed at the voice in my head that, when I’m stressed, offers an oh-so-helpful list of all the stress-relieving things I’m not doing, implying that I could make the stress go away but I just must not want to badly enough.

I will never not be a caregiver.

I realized as I was helping my family in the face of my mom’s return to the hospital that there will never be a time when I’m not a caregiver and that given my family’s medical woes, I am much more likely to need to drop everything to caregive than many other people. It would be wise to design my life to accommodate this fact, rather than hoping for some imagined time with minimal caregiving responsibilities. Even if I get my own conditions well-managed, even as M. grows and becomes more independent, I will still benefit from the flexibility I need as a parent of a young child and a chronically ill worker.

This is a radical shift in my thinking about the future. I’ll write more about it as I tease out what it means for my planning practices and daily life.

I’m intrigued by the pedagogy of uncertainty concept that Ronnie Videla-Reyes and Claudio Aguayo will introduce at this week’s SoTEL Symposium. “…the teacher and her/his students lay down a path in walking together…”

As we approach the spring of deception, it feels rude to me that the earth is moving forward with the seasons with my mom in and out of the hospital. I’ll try to appreciate it but it’s harder this year than in other years.

I was feeling sad about my mom being readmitted to the hospital so I took a break from work and made a pillow cover. Blog post with details forthcoming.

I’m a great lover of Valentine’s Day as a time to express special affection for friends & family as well as romantic partners. Today is a hard Valentine’s Day. My mom is being readmitted to the hospital. Tell me about someone special to you & how you make sure they know it. 💞

My mom was discharged from the hospital tonight and will be doing the rest of her induction therapy outpatient. Thought you might like some good news tonight, world.

Started Octopath Traveler again tonight and it made me very happy. Last time I played was almost 2 years ago. 🎮