IT’S ALL MAKING SENSE TO ME NOW.

So you know that Melissa and I have been working on The Caregiver Organizer For My Aging Parent book, due out any day now (yes, we’re getting closer, but yes, summer set us back a  bit!).  To be honest, this book has been a bit tougher for us because when we wrote our For My Child book, we could draw from personal experience, but neither of us, thankfully, has had to be a caregiver for a parent yet.

However, with the passing of my friend’s step mother this summer, I find myself somewhat in this role since my friend is 1000 miles away and I have always been considered part of the family anyway.  Her father needs somebody now, and I am more than willing and able to be there for him.

So without writing too many details, which I’m sure will be more to come in the coming months, I just want to tip my virtual hat to every caregiver out there, but especially those of you in the “sandwich” generation.  Taking care of your own family, plus taking care of your parents, or any aging family member, is a tougher role than I ever could have imagined.  I’m already exhausted, not to mention overwhelmed, looking at the tasks ahead, the guilt of knowing that I probably won’t do those tasks well enough, and the knowledge that I don’t even have the knowledge that I need.

This, my dear friends, is why we are writing this book.  Not to give you any advice, because obviously we are in no position to do so, but to help you organize information about your loved one so that you don’t have to do it all.  You can’t be there 24/7 for him or her, so when you need to have another caregiver there, all of your parent’s information will be organized in a manual, ready to go.

I’m extra motivated now to get this book finished, and we’ll let you know as soon as it’s ready to go.

So hang in there, Fellow Caregivers.  Help is on its way!

Karen

AND THE SPRING “CLEANING” BEGINS

In my house, I don’t do Spring Cleaning so much. It’s more of Spring Organizing. If you know me at all, you know this fact: I DON’T CLEAN! Now don’t worry, I don’t make my family live in filth, I just hire out the cleaning part. No, it’s not like I’m rolling in the money, it’s just that I know where my priorities are, and having somebody else clean my house is definitely one of my top priorities. Even when I didn’t have 2 nickels to rub together, I still had a maid. (Woops, I mean housekeeper. Is that the more politically correct way of saying it?) Seriously, give me a toilet brush, and I’m going to wonder if I’m supposed to clean the oven with it! (I know, ewww, right?)

So while the housekeeper (I’ll say this because I know I’m supposed to, but even she calls herself the maid!) takes care of the Spring Cleaning, I’m doing my Spring Organizing. My first step is to eradicate all memories of winter. So even though we may still see some chilly nights, too bad. All winter clothes are put away and summer clothes are out. No more of having both seasons crammed into the closets and drawers. Bye bye sweaters, hello swimsuits!

That’s the most pressing project. After that, it’s just taking a look at things that need to be done. But to make sure I don’t get overwhelmed, I could go about this many different ways. The key here is to just don’t try to do it all at once. How do I do it? I start with what annoys me the most! This weekend it was my closet! Changing out the clothes was a great start, but it needed so much more than that. After the closet, I moved to the laundry room. (And hey, as long as I was working on the laundry room, why not do laundry? Who says I’m no good at multi tasking?)

Anyway, you get the idea. I had no illusions of getting the entire house organized in one day, even one weekend. I was darn proud of myself for doing as much as I did! So whether you’re Spring Cleaning or Spring Organizing, break it down into manageable projects and take them one at a time. You’ll see, soon the important ones will get done, and the others will follow eventually!

Karen