It's never too early to prepare yourself for elder care.
By Emily Green, Working Mother
Being a working mother taking care of children and a career is tough; nobody is going to debate this. What can make it tougher is having aging parents
as you might end up having to take care of them as well. Not all
families have the luxury of having healthy grandparents that can take
care of themselves. A lot of families also do not have the money to have
an around the clock nurse making sure your parents are healthy. There
are a variety of problems that occur differ family to family but they
generally fall into the following 4 categories.
Cannot Be Alone For Long Periods
[post_ads]The fact that your parents might not get around quite like they used
to or one has passed away makes it dangerous for them to be alone.
Technology has made it easier than ever to keep watch over your parents
using cameras to make sure they haven’t fallen or are experiencing a
healthy episode. Life Alert is a popular option that many people use but
it isn’t for everyone. Another option is moving your parent or parents
into the home with your family. Before this is looked at as a negative,
grandparents are usually the best babysitters. Your parents will even
help around the home in most cases as to not be a burden.
Parents Are Running Out of Money
There could be a
chance that your parent’s are slowly running out of money from lack of
funds or budgeting. Instead of them applying for a traditional loan
which they would most likely get rejected for, there are other options. This blog post
on reverse mortgages explains how they can help and what they are
exactly. You can choose how much money you need monthly or you can sell
equity a few times a year to pay the bills. Selling some items is
another option if your parents have a boat or other expendables. Do not
lend your parents money as they are on a fixed income and will find it
difficult to pay it back. This might seem harsh but you can offer them
your home to stay in but your children shouldn’t go without because
their grandparents spent their money unwisely.
One Parent Remarries After The Death of The Other
There are plenty of people who find love after their long time spouse
has passed away. This in fact is a great way to increase life
expectancy as a partner to be active with is extremely important in
combating mental illnesses as well as physical health issues. The issue
arises when this new partner might not just be in the relationship for
the love of your mother or father. Beware of new love interests that a
parent takes on luxurious vacations as the person could be using your
parent. Some people are willing to enter this kind of relationship
because of loneliness, do not let your parent be taken advantage of.
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Having To Make a Tough Decision
The toughest thing to admit is that you cannot and do not want to
take care of your aging parent or parents. Alzheimer’s is one of the
conditions that makes it very difficult to care for someone. These
people might not remember anyone in the family and can become violent.
This violence comes out of nowhere as even the most peaceful of people
can have a delusion that turns them into a different person. Sending
your parent to a place with professional help is an option especially if
caring for your parent is impacting your children. Children might not
be equipped to watch their grandparent slowly drift away into senility
as you will be having a tough time as well.
An aging parent is not an easy situation for anyone involved as a
parent does not want to be a burden. Take care of your parents to the
best of your ability and enlist outside help if needed as there is no
shame in that.
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