When it comes to our parents, it’s only a matter of time before we adult children need to become more involved in their day-to-day lives. Unless we are incredibly lucky, our parents won’t live to be 100 and die in their sleep with no deterioration in their physical or mental abilities. For the rest of...Read More
If we’re honest with ourselves, we can remember back to a time when we and our siblings were all living at home and we settled into certain patterns within our families. For example, in a family of three brothers, there was the elder who had his act together, the middle one who was the clown,...Read More
Whether you are teaching your young daughter how to knit, or helping your aging mother balance her checkbook, how do you take charge without taking over? How many times have you found yourself “showing” someone how to do something by doing it for them? It’s human nature. But while it might make sense to show...Read More
If you are like most baby boomers, you’re busy, busy, busy! Whether you do it with a PDA, a scratch pad and pencil, or all in your head, you’re a list-making creature. With so many balls in the air, you don’t want one to crash back down. You feel immense pleasure when you accomplish something...Read More
The aging parent who asserts that they will never be “sent” to a retirement home is the parent who fears being abandoned in his or her old age. He usually has expectations that one of his children will take him in. She might expect that she will be able to manage in her own home...Read More
There seem to be two kinds of aging parents – those who are determined never to be a burden on their families, and those who are in denial about the reality that their changing condition and ability places upon those who love them. This isn’t a value judgment; it just seems to be the way...Read More
Jane Gross posted a fabulous discussion in The New Old Age Blog today called “The $500,000 Question.” She relates her personal story of caring for her Mom, and wonders whether everyone might have been better off if they had considered a continuing care retirement community. She concludes that it would have been at least a...Read More
