This post may be of interest to adult children caregivers.
This post on The Caregiver Space (thecaregiverspace.org) is about the fact that “siblings respond to their aging parents differently” and this can cause problems such as siblings who refuse to help or siblings who forcefully take control. Unfortunately, childhood “squabbles can reemerge when it comes time for eldercare.”
I thought this statement was interesting: “One mother can take care of seven children, but seven children can’t care for one mother.”
The author cites a caregiving expert for three ways to “deal with siblings who refuse to take on their fare share of responsibilities”:
* “Ask for help. Be direct and tell them exactly what you need or what they might do to ease your burden.”
* “Have a care plan. A care plan can help you organize tasks and responsibilities to make it easier for them to get involved.”
* “Let go of expectations. By learning to let go of your expectations and hurt and allowing yourself the liberty to find help elsewhere without feelings of resentment, you are ensuring your own peace of mind.”
The author provides her “Top 5 Tips for Shared Caregiving,” where everyone keeps the following in mind:
* “People make mistakes – and sometimes what you believe is a mistake may actually not be a mistake at all.”
* “Two opposite opinions can both be right.”
* “Appreciate what they’re doing instead of thinking about how you could do it better.”
* “You all share love for your parent and the fact that you have different opinions is okay.”
* “Always support each other and respect each other’s opinions.”
Here’s a link to the full blog post:
thecaregiverspace.org/sharing-caregiving-tasks-with-your-siblings/
Sharing caregiving tasks with your siblings
by Hanna Landman (Guest Author)
Jul 1, 2017
The Caregiver Space
Robin