So, after discussing the matter back and forth with several people who responded to my group message this week, the consensus is that doing two CareGiving Kos diaries a week is the way to go. One will be a 'formal' diary by one author, on a specific topic related to care-giving, and the other will be a less formal diary more along the lines of an Open Thread or general support/discussion group. In addition, any of our members can go ahead and republish any appropriate diary to the group as they come up.
There wasn't much of a consensus on when to do our CareGiving Kos group diaries, so GreyHawk and I decided to just pick a couple of times during the week, toss out the idea in this diary, and see what people think. Those times are Sunday morning and Wednesday evening. We hoped that this would give most people a chance to see one or the other on a regular basis.
I'm not sure which slot would be best for which kind of diary - perhaps it doesn't really matter, or maybe we should just swap them up regularly. I would love to hear what thoughts people have on this, as well.
And we'll want to have people sign up to do a 'formal' diary - you can tell your care-giving story, or pick a specific topic about care-giving to address, or go into some detail about a news item or resource you've come across - whatever you want.
For now either GreyHawk or I will put up the less formal diary each week, probably with one or two small items of interest to the care-giving community to help kick off discussion. But please feel free to weigh in with whatever is on you mind - even if it is just to vent, or ask for help, or to mention what kind of day you've had. And I hope everyone will participate - this isn't about mojo or anything, but about being supportive for others who are doing the very difficult job of being a care-provider. There's a whole chapter of our book titled "The Hardest Job You'll Ever Have" - what my mother-in-law's primary doctor told me and my wife while we were care-givers.
So, please - join in. Add your thoughts. Express your fears. Rant, rave, or just share. That's what we're here for.