My mother-in-law had the best seat at our dining room table. From her spot, she could see through the bay window straight up the hill lined with houses on either side. Watching the neighborhood provided her entertainment.

“This is better than television,” she said. “I can see everything from here. If we were expecting company for breakfast, we would know when to put the eggs on!”

She told us what time the people up the street came home, knew whose dogs were roaming, and watched neighborhood kids ride their bikes and play basketball. In her late 90s, she could do little, but she found pleasure in simple things.

While caregiving, especially during COVID isolation, my husband and I enjoyed simple pleasures ourselves. We took short walks around the subdivision, set aside time to watch a movie or play a board game, or visited a drive-through for ice cream. Caregiving can be demanding and isolation nerve-wracking, so we looked for ways to relieve stress. By taking opportunities to find enjoyment or time away, we lightened the load caused by caregiving. And that made everyone happier.

As we’ve found, the simple pleasures are also the ones that bring us the greatest joy. They don’t have to be expensive or involve huge chunks of time. Just giving ourselves permission to relax when we have a free minute can brighten our outlook better than the sun on a cloudy day.

What about you? Are you balancing caregiving with parenting or a full-time job, working so hard everything becomes a blur? Does it seem as though there’s never enough time to do anything right? What simple pleasures have you discovered that bring you joy? How do you find respite from your caregiving duties? Treasure those things and guard the moments you spend doing them. They will make you a more relaxed, compassionate, and joyful caregiver.

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
Proverbs 17:22 ESV

Tracy Crump dispenses hope in her award-winning book, Health, Healing, and Wholeness: Devotions of Hope in the Midst of Illness (CrossLink Publishing, 2021). A former intensive care nurse, she cared for her parents and her mother-in-law and understands both the burdens and joys of caregiving. Her devotions have been featured in Guideposts books, The Upper Room, and many other publications, and she has contributed 22 stories to Chicken Soup for the Soul® books. She also conducts writing workshops, freelance edits, and proofreads for Farmers’ Almanac. But her most important job is Grandma to five completely unspoiled grandchildren.