Something I've talked about a few times in my Caregiver's Diary series is the need for caregivers to give themselves some grace every once in a while because they simply can't be Every Woman/Man.

It's a point I think is important to reemphasize from time to time, because no matter how often we may tell ourselves that, we inevitably end up falling into the same traps where we feel overwhelmed with all the responsibilities and thinking we must get to them all right now and take care of them or we will otherwise be failures at life.

While those types of situations, of course, extend well beyond caregivers, there's an added layer of urgency to it because a lot of what you're trying to do is make life better, more comfortable for the loved one for whom you are caring.

SEE ALSO -->> Caregiver's Diary Part 27: When Your 'Get Up and Go' Gets Up and Goes

I have found myself in this situation many times this year. Sometimes it's been my fault due to the fact that there were things I could have done during the week that I pushed off until the weekend, just because I didn't want to do it at the time. But more often than not, it's because I simply did not have the time to do those things during the work week (or was too exhausted) and had no choice but to bump the task(s) to either Saturday or Sunday.

This past weekend, I was telling my mom that I felt like all I ever did anymore was work between job responsibilities and home responsibilities.

The clothes typically don't get done until the weekend. The grocery shopping sometimes doesn't get done until the weekend (unless I've Instacarted during the week). Picking up prescriptions is a weekend thing. Changing the sheets doesn't usually happen until the weekend. At least one round of bird feeder fill-ups has to happen on the weekend.

Administrative stuff like bills, quarterly tax filings, and sorting through a week's worth of mail often is done in the late evening hours or on the weekend.

It's little wonder I have next to no time for meal planning, which is something that desperately needs to happen but which falls by the wayside more often than not because ordering out or running to pick something up has pretty much become the default after I've run myself around in circles.

Once again, though, it was Mom who talked me back down to earth, reminding me that not everything needed to be done in the same day, and that responsibilities could be spread out and reprioritized if necessary.

Further, she observed that it didn't make me a failure to either fall behind on a few things or not get to them all within a few hours' timeframe.

"You don't have to prove yourself to me or anyone else. And you shouldn't beat yourself up over needing to take breaks every once in a while. You're doing just fine. And you are enough," she also said.

I've heard that phrase used before, but coming from my mom, who devoted her life to caring for my sisters and me (sometimes by walking several miles to grocery stores to get the food we needed), and my grandmother (her mom) for a few years, and who was a caregiver to my dad for the last ten years of his life, it meant a lot.

I am enough. We are all enough, no matter our perceived shortcomings. We should tell ourselves that every day when we get out of bed and before we get into it at night after a challenging day. Eventually, maybe it will sink in.

RELATED: To read my previous Caregiver's Diary entries, please click here.