3 Ways Family Caregivers Can Maximize Their Energy
I read a very interesting guest blog post last week by Mike Davenport on the Men with Pens blog. It wasn’t written for the eldercare industry, but his ideas are excellent tools for family caregivers to put into their bag of tricks and use regularly. Mike makes a distinction between time management vs. energy [...]
What Do Caregiving and an Empty Nest Have in Common?
Getting married and becoming a spouse. Giving birth and becoming a parent. Watching your adult children move away and becoming an empty nester. Seeing your parents age and becoming a family caregiver. (Then doing it again possibly for your spouse.) These are all major life transitions that schools don’t give classes in! Most of us [...]
How to Handle the Guilt of Caregiving — Part 2
This post is part of a two-part series. Click here to read Part 1. I feel a little guilty for writing about guilt. I haven’t been a hands-on family caregiver for over two years, but I still feel guilt over things I could have or should have done for my aging parents. So can I [...]
How to Handle the Guilt of Caregiving — Part 1
One of my support group members recently asked me, “How do I get over the guilt?” A few months ago she moved her husband to a board and care facility because she could no longer care for him by herself at home. Intellectually she knows it is the best thing for both of them, but [...]
Six Reasons to Join a Family Caregivers Support Group
I am a huge proponent of support groups because I’ve learned so much and received comfort by attending them over the past 15 years. For the last three years I’ve also been a support group leader, and my life is enriched by listening to the people who attend my groups each month. My [...]
Inspiring Quotes for Caregivers: On Support — 10/27/10
If you having trouble viewing this video, click here. “I feel the capacity to care is the thing which gives life its deepest significance.” ~ Pablo Casals If you are a caregiver . . . deep gratitude for caring so much about the welfare of your care partner. If you know a caregiver who may [...]
Inspiring Quotes for Caregivers: On Starting Again — 10/13/10
“There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning.” ~ Louis L’Amour Everything connected with your loved one’s care is going along smoothly, your care recipient’s needs are all met and your caregiving “work” is finished. Then your loved one declines further via the aging process or perhaps [...]
What to Do After You’ve Lost Your Cool with your Aging Parents
We’re all human. We’ve probably all felt the guilt and remorse after losing our cool with our aging parents, relatives or care recipients. Aside from feeling badly, what can we actively do to make amends after we’ve blown up at them? How do we begin to repair the relationship after a hurtful incident? Making up [...]
True Confessions: When I Lost Patience with My Aging Parents
In a prior post I acknowledged that in our role as family caregivers, we’ve all probably lost our patience with our aging parents or care recipients at some point. I also promised to share with you my own experience, so here goes. I Never Lost My Patience (Part One of Two) I was a long [...]
True Confessions: Have you Lost your Cool with your Aging Parents?
Last week’s post about having patience with our aging parents (aka Golden Oldies), caused me to think about the exact opposite experience. Despite our best efforts, each of us has probably lost our patience and blown up at our care recipients at one time or another, in some way or other. We wouldn’t be human [...]
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