As a parent, you often find yourself in the swing of caring for your children. Even if it takes you a while to find your feet in the beginning–particularly when you start adding more children into the mix–you’ll find a rhythm that works for you.
But at some point, you may realize that you need to care for your parents too. If you’re in a position where you’re able to do this, you may be wondering what the best way to go about it is. While there’s never a one-size-fits-all approach to this, there are things you can do to care for your entire family, ensuring they’re happy and healthy. Let’s take a look at how you can support your aging parents while parenting your little ones.
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Understand What Everyone Needs
It can be overwhelming when you have a lot of people to look after. Understanding everyone’s unique needs can make this a lot easier. Rather than trying to work it all out for yourself, having an open conversation and having a list of what everyone needs or does each week can help you to then create an organized plan.
Stay on Top of Medical Appointments
One of the most important parts of this will be to ensure that everyone is healthy. Going to medical appointments and getting checkups is a great way to do that. Plus, your aging parents may need more specialist support. They can see an audiologist to look at treating hearing loss with hearing aids that may make them feel more comfortable. The same goes for an optician. Then there are regular dental and medical checkups for the whole family too.
Create a Schedule
You’ll also want to create a family schedule. Not only can it show who is doing what and when, as well as what everyone needs, but you can also see who is helping out with what. It’s important to have everything logged in one place, as it will make it so much easier for you to ensure everyone is cared for without missing anything.
Delegate Responsibility
However, even with a seamless schedule in place, it doesn’t mean that you have to do everything yourself. In fact, you should delegate responsibilities around the household. As you build a routine for your children, you can also delegate things like their personal care and chores that will not only help them to become more independent, but also keep everything running well. Then, you and your spouse can focus on your roles. It’s all about ensuring everyone works together to create a happy family life.
Enjoy Your Time Together
Lastly, you also want to make sure that you’re enjoying your life together. It can be hard when you’re looking after your children, caring for your parents, and trying to manage your own life. But, as with many things, it can also be how you look at it. So, here, you may want to look at your life through rose-tinted lenses and try to romanticize things as much as possible. Having days out, bonding, and spending time together can make everything feel a lot more enjoyable. Plus, it means that you get to relax and unwind in the process, without always having to be doing something.
For more on this topic, check out the full Senior Care collection
