Butterviews

This is sponsored content from BlogHer and Home Instead Senior Care.

I have broad shoulders. I always have. It seems I keep the world on them.

I have been married for 12 years. Of course, it takes work, consideration, communication, compromise. And sex. It’s a relationship that needs to be cultivated.

I have two sons, both with very different special needs. I need to care for them in the parental sense, plus advocate for them out in the world of therapists, diagnoses, doctors, specialists, and schools.

I own my own business.

Mom and Me, 2010

I live next door to my aging parents. Next year, my mom will turn 80. She’s not well, and my father is relying on me more and more to help. Lately he’s been freezing up when certain decisions have to be made. He’s relying on me to make those decisions. Frankly, I think he’s just plumb wore out and I need to step in. One can only take those middle of the night “she’s not going to last the night” phone calls so often.

I have a couple of ulcers. I tested negative for the bacteria that causes them. Which means I got them through stress, baby.

Caregiving is hard. It’s demanding, stressful, depressing, and heartbreaking. Yet, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Caregiver is the perfect word. You give of yourself to these people in your life because you care. You love. You worry. But you know that you wouldn’t want anyone else to do it – that you need to do it. I could encourage my dad to get some help at home. And I would, if mom’s care needed some more technical medical expertise. But right now, between the two of us, we can handle it. That means she’s cared for by people who love her – and who can kick her in the ass when it’s necessary. I could hire a nanny to take the kids to all their appointments… I have a business to run after all. But I’ve seen their faces when I’m there. They need me. They have enough uncertainty and pain in their lives without my delegating it all away. I need to know what’s going on. They need me to take action.

I’ve had some people try to intervene for me. They say I’m taking on too much. I can’t do it all. Well, of course I can’t! That’s why I started my business. I could no longer manage everyone’s care by being away from the home 11 hours a day. So, I quit my lucrative job with a well respected studio in order to earn less than half on my own in order to just be there. It came to a point in which I needed to take stock of my priorities. Ultimately – that’s what caregiving is. Being there. Always. No matter what.

To every thing there is a season. This is the season I am in. It won’t always be this way. It won’t always be so hard. Until it gets easier, though, my parents, children, and husband know they can rely on me to care for them and be there to the best of my ability.

This post is part of a larger congregation of posts over at BlogHer.  To see the Round-Up page go to BlogHer.com CLB exclusive offers page. There’s even a Cruise you can enter a contest for!

After culling the comments that didn’t fall within the rules, we were left with 350 entries in the Capri Sun $250 Visa Gift Card Giveaway. This is certainly the best response we’ve had on this site to date – Thank you for playing!

…and the winner is?

Comment number 126 is a Tweet entry from Joanna Price!

Congratulations Joanna! Look for an email from me any minute. You have 48 hours to claim your prize and give me your shipping information. If Joanna doesn’t get to me in time, we’ll choose another number for a new winner.

Thanks again to everyone for playing and sharing your morning snafu’s with the internet!

The last day to enter the Capri-Sun Sunrise $250 Visa Giftcard Giveaway on Butterviews is tomorrow! I won’t be taking comments after Midnight 7/9 Pacific, so be sure to get your entry in. Oh, and don’t comment here for the giveaway – it won’t count.

I’m a mom, a wife, a daughter, a business owner… I’m busy. So are you. Mornings are, well, difficult I suppose is the word.

Here’s what we do. I get up at 6am to be able to have my coffee and some morning quiet time. I am NOT a morning person. If I don’t have that hour or so before the rest of the house, I get very very grumpy. Then, around 7am I wake the kids up. They know the routine. Into the dining room for breakfast, brush teeth, wash face, feed and water the cats, get dressed, clean up rooms, and make their beds. Then they can do whatever they’d like before going to school. It’s taken a long time to come up with a routine. We’re still working out the kinks.

For example, if the laundry’s not put away – then where are the clothes? Homework didn’t get put away the night before – where’s that? Where’s the lunchbox so it can be packed? Not to mention if, God forbid, one of the kids gets up on the wrong side of the bed.

But the kids always eat breakfast – and that’s where this review and giveaway come into play.

The good folks at BlogHer asked for a review and for me to giveaway money. How could I refuse that?!

So… Per my regular review format, here we go…

EQUATION: I received the new product from Capri-Sun in three varieties to try – well, for my kids to try. They tried the Orange Wake Up and Berry Tangerine Morning.

Capri Sun Sunrise ~ Making Every Day Better
Capri Sun Sunrise is the new, wholesome morning drink for kids chock full of Vitamin C and calcium.

• A good source of calcium
• 100% Daily Value Vitamin C
• The pouch kids love

It comes in three flavors: Orange Wake Up, Tropical Morning, Berry Tangerine Morning

PLUS: Well – aside from all the vitamins and all that good for you stuff… My kids LOVED it. I tried to get descriptions from them other than “good” but all I got out of them is, “It’s very Orangy!” They’re only 6 & 9 so I’ll give them some slack. But I suppose the biggest praise of all was, “Can we please please please have it in snack tomorrow?”

MINUS: We’ve been using the Capri-Sun products for a long time, and I really trust the brand. But, it’s still a packaged juice, as opposed to completely fresh do-it-yourself. But since I’ve never made juice in my life, that’s not a big minus for me. Although I suppose it should be? But it is 100% juice, and they have Green initiative that you can find out more about at their website.

There are actually 8 chances to win… Go see the Blogher Round-Up Page to find out how.

Good Luck!

RULES: Sorry. Have to have them to keep things fair.

To enter, leave me a comment below and share YOUR morning routine tips, as I mentioned above – or you may leave a link to your post on your own blog in the comments below. The contest will begin on 4/29/09 and will end 7/8/09. Make sure that the e-mail address you leave is correct. You can find the Official BlogHer Contest Rules here.

• No duplicate comments.
• You may receive an additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link in the comments.
• You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
• This giveaway is open to US residents, over the age of 18.
• Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
• You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.