Featured
Being a caregiver is hard work. It is one thing when it is your professional job that you get paid for and can go home from every day, and entirely another when you are a parent to your children and also someone depended on by your elderly parents.
Care work is a challenging job in itself, but it can be even more difficult when you are responsible and have to juggle your priorities to make sure everything can fit.
If you are in this position, as many are, this piece is going to take a look at how you can juggle caring for your kids and your elderly parents at the same time without going too insane.
Ways you can juggle caring for your kids and your elderly parents
Open and Honest Communication
What might be the hardest part of caring for someone is probably the most important – open and honest communication. There are just too many things at stake for this not to be top of the list.
Talk to your kids (appropriate for age) and elderly parents about the overall situation, and explain your responsibilities. Creating a space for open communication will hopefully encourage everyone involved to express any concerns or needs.
There may be times when a conversation with those involved isn’t feasible (such as really young children or elderly parents with dementia), so in these circumstances, speak to your support network, such as your partner, friends or other family members.
Don’t Take It All on Yourself
You might very well be a superhero but even the greatest need a break from time to time.
Enlist the help of others to help make the situation more manageable and work out what you can take on and what you can’t. Make a list of daily tasks and responsibilities, then prioritize them based on urgency and importance. You can then determine which tasks you can and should handle yourself and which ones can be delegated to other family members, friends, or hired caregivers. Take a look at alina homecare for a friendly helping hand that can help you keep your parents well looked after.
Get a Routine in Place
Developing a routine that works for you, your children and your parents can take some of the stress out of your day. When everyone knows what is going on, there are fewer surprises and potentially fewer problems. Having scheduled meal times, wash times, and even designated times for rest and relaxation can help keep everyone moving forward and working together, along with creating a sense of stability for everyone involved.
Take Care of Yourself
You know what they say, you can’t pour from an empty cup, and whoever ‘they’ are, are right!
It’s essential to ensure that you are looking after yourself and that you put that in as a part of your routine. Even just a few minutes each day can help you recharge and manage stress, though the more time you can have, the better. You deserve to have time to yourself, and if you ever feel like you are taking too much time for yourself (which you shouldn’t), just remember, taking care of yourself means you can better take care of others anyway, and no one can argue with that!
