The Sandwich Generation Pod
The Sandwich Generation is a smart, funny, and deeply human podcast about life in the middle—caring for both young children and aging parents. Hosted by two women living it in real-time, Robyn Frank and Eliesa Johnson bring raw honesty, real advice, hopefully some levity to every episode.
The Sandwich Generation Pod
Episode 4: Self care feels like a SCAM!
How the f*ck am I supposed to fit in self care? This is a question we ask ourselves all. of. the. Time. (especially while living this ‘sandwiched’ lifestyle). With the algorithms feeding us endless articles about all the ways we ‘should’ be doing self care, frankly, it all feels like a scam.
In this episode, we (Eliesa Johnson and Robyn Frank) open up about the frustrations around taking care of ourselves while being caregivers for both our children and parents. We give some realistic examples of how we fit in tiny moments of joy that help us cope with the stress, along with a deeper conversation on how watching our parents age has had an effect on our own health journeys. And did we mention we talk about making CPAPs sexy?! That’s right - welcome to The Sandwich Generation Pod!
Takeaways
- Self care feels like a scam because there is NO time people!
- Being ‘sandwiched’ and watching our parents age has only made us reflect on our own health journey - because we want to stay as healthy as possible for our children as they grow!
- Taking vitamins might be all the self care there is for the day!
- Shoutout to CPAP machines and amazing sleep! CPAPs are COOL, y’all!
- Finding radical acceptance is important for our mental well being when we’re in the midst of caregiving.
- Everything you do each day is enough.
- Journaling, therapy, indulging in a great coffee / cocktail, nutrient dense food are all things we’ve found as small joys along the way.
- Creating boundaries around your time from caregiving is self care.
- It’s okay to just survive some days; recognizing that is part of self care.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:47 The Reality of Self-Care in Busy Lives
01:57 Our Personal Self-Care Practices and Challenges
07:09 Making CPAP Machines Sexy and how Sleep is EVERYTHING
15:06 How bedtime with our kids became the best time
19:53 Our own Health Awakening from watching our parents age
27:11 Prioritizing our health for our own aging
29:38 Setting Boundaries: Caring for Family
33:54 Practical Hacks: Self-Care in Everyday Life
37:52 Radical Acceptance: What we are doing is enough
40:35 Outro