Sandwich Generation - Taking Care of Both Sides

By Connor R Sullivan

The challenge of taking care of aged parents can be demanding. This is one of the most difficult problems that many people are facing today. Your father is old, mother is mostly ill, and you live fifteen minutes drive away from them. With all this, you also have to take care of your kids. Situations like these are becoming common as parents have to take care of both sides. In the past, caregivers performed this work and as a matter of fact, there were similar caregiver jobs or CNA jobs out there.

But now, people squeezed in this situation and who are taking care of both sides is called the "Sandwich generation." Gone are those days when two or three families used to live in the same town or even one house. Things are different now. Members of one family are scattered throughout the country, with long-distance calls and emails being the only few sources to tie them together. Aging parents are less likely to ask for help in the current era, with the thoughts of becoming a burden to their children. They feel that their children are working hard and that they should do something themselves to not become a burden.

To avoid this, sandwich generation caregivers can take care of some points to keep in touch and build a continuous network:

• Hold a meeting every week to keep record of all the main tasks to be performed before the next meeting. You can set some mutual expectations and list all the ways that can be used to achieve the target. If you have a family support, care-giving does not belong to one person. The family meeting will also give more space to each family member to participate and share their thoughts.

• Assign roles to each family member. You can assign some roles to your children for e.g. medical checkups or cleaning the garden, while perform others yourself. This not only distributes your burden, but also helps establish communication. It will also lessen the generation gap and will encourage all the family members to have a chat.

• Provide your parents with entertainment facilities such as newspapers and magazines to alert them with upcoming events. If they have an interest in a particular area, make sure that you subscribe to their interest-related magazines. Buy them tickets for concerts and cultural events. Give them movies occasionally, with a genre that interests them. Take them to churches and shopping malls where they feel entertained and relaxed.

• Whenever you visit your parents home, have a 360 degree look and see if anything needs to be repaired or fixed. Make a note of all things so that you fix it yourself or arrange a way to mend it by calling for a professional help.

Sandwich Generation Month

Sandwich Generation Month is a month that is celebrated annually to reward people for the dedication, endurance and commitment that they give towards their parents as well as children. It is held every July and with support from different organizations and NGOs, creates awareness and offer support for the sandwich generation family.

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