We thought it was hard dealing with our children, right? First, those infamous toddlers that are learning about life and have minds of their own. They don’t want to listen through the terrible twos. Then they hit school age, and either they love school or hate it and we encourage them on how to succeed. We emphasis the importance of knowledge and education. We tell them we have their best interests at heart. Do they listen? Do our parents?
Fast forward a few years, and we hit the teenage era. Yes, era…because it is a time all unto its own. They love us, they hate us, we know nothing, they know everything and many rebel. We figure as parents if we can survive this stage and get them through high school years, all will be okay! We reassure saying we have their best interest at heart. But they don’t really listen do they?
They leave for post-secondary or start working and we finally start feeling a sense of accomplishment and freedom. They move out for school or to be on their own, maybe to get married, and again we thinking, okay we have managed through another phase and things are okay. Kids are on their way and we have some space.
So the kids are taken care of but what about your parents? Through the years or maybe just recently you realize (or try to deny) that things aren’t okay. There are signs that perhaps they need help. Really? Are you kidding me? You just finished raising your family or still are and now your parents need help. That would be the sandwich generation.
Ideally, you can suggest the help required and make the issue go away but guess what? Many parents go through a similar stage as we did with our children. Feels like we are back where we started. They won’t listen. They know everything. We know nothing. We have good ideas. We have their best interest at heart. We aren’t convinced they are aging safely at home. But they aren’t hearing us. So now what?
Check out this original article that talks to dealing with parents who won’t accept help.
https://www.nextavenue.org/4-things-do-when-your-parents-are-resisting-help/
We would love to hear from you if you have experienced this and how you managed through. There are millions of North American’s experiencing caregiving issues that your insight could benefit so please share by commenting on this article or sending your insights to contact@seniorslifestylemag.com
