The Sandwich Generation - Who's the Kid Here, Anyway???

Do you find yourself caught in the middle? Mom and Dad have reverted to childhood - bickering and bothering each other while the kids are still draining your wallet. I started the day with $35 in my purse and ended it with $1 and an accusation from my 76-year old mother that I am keeping secrets from her and not telling her what medications she takes and what they are for. OMG, it's not like I haven't explained them to her a dozen times, holding each one up and describing it as either "a little white football" or "an orange coated ball with the initials SJ printed on it," or whatever..... I even reminded her to check the cover of the three-ring medication summary binder where I have listed each med, it's brand name, generic name, pronunciation and simple explanation of what it is for.
That's pretty secretive.



Patience is not optional when you care for an elderly parent. The loss of control that comes when all of life has changed after a stroke or major illness is monumental. It's so hard to let go and let someone else take care of everything they have done for themselves all of their lives. Patience. And boundaries. Reorient them to reality. Reassure them that you and everyone in the family is working together very hard to care for them and meet their needs.


In the meantime, daughter Allison negotiated the purchase of a pair of shorts and needed to be paid for her chores. Good job, Al.


I'm going home and going to bed. You old folks and young kids can duke it out without me.