How about “Supporting Your Parents” instead? Google ‘parenting your parents’ and you get about 869,000,000 results in 0.68 seconds. The sources range from venerated publications like Forbes and Kaiser Health News to the Huffington Post. Granted, you must sift through articles about how to be a parent and the danger to children forced to take on the parental role. Bottom … [Read more...]
The Holidays Are Over and Everyone Agrees Mom Needs Help at Home.
But No One Can Agree on Whom to Hire. Even when family members agree on an outcome, like finding someone to help mom stay at home, agreeing on how to make it happen can be painful. Truthfully, it often comes down to money and that is a volatile subject for many families. The first thing family members need to understand is that Medicare does not pay for non-medical home … [Read more...]
GRACE is my word for 2020. What do you do to give yourself grace in your life and as a caregiver?
How can one word change your world? Last year I did not set any New Year’s resolutions. Instead, I chose one word, impact, to use as a touchstone for the year. With intention, I measured the positive impact activities, people and commitments had on my life and, based on that, came to some decisions. I’d be lying if I said these decisions were easy, but I acted. I resigned … [Read more...]
Our Caregiving Youth: A Hidden Epidemic
Do you know a young caregiver? The only national survey of young caregivers conducted in the United States was completed in 2004. Conducted by the National Alliance for Caregiving and the United Hospital Fund, they found there were about 1.3 – 1.4 million young caregivers. Divided into age groups of 8-11, 12-15 and 16-18, we are talking about children in elementary school, … [Read more...]
“Mom is Living With Dementia, Not Suffering From It.”
Words Matter. One of the biggest and best caregiving lessons I’ve learned over the last five years is words matter. Starting a discussion with “You must”, “You should” get’s me nowhere with my mother. The concept is so central to how mom and I interact, that I devote an entire chapter on having hard conversations in my book "Your Caregiver Relationship Contract.” But the … [Read more...]