Grandparents are Raising Grandchildren in Increasing Numbers
Ron and Darlene had just finished raising their own children, when their oldest daughter, who was addicted, gave birth to her first of three children. Unable to care for her son, her mom and dad stepped in, first for the one and ultimately for all three. The number of grandparents raising grandchildren has grown significantly over the last twenty years. In 1990, approximately 2 million … [Read more...]
Helping Family Members without Harming You
One of the most challenging aspects of retirement, or any time for that matter is being called to help family members financially. On the one hand, if someone is in need, it’s our natural inclination to want to help. There are times when helping can be harmful, either to the helper, helpee or both. Metlife Mature Market Institute studied the dimensions of economics and emotions. What do you … [Read more...]
The Gift of My Mother’s Dementia
Last week was the one-year anniversary of my mother’s death. She died at the age of 91, a week before her 92nd birthday. The last few years had been a long, hard road for both of us. As power of attorney for healthcare decisions, I had to place her in a graduated care facility when dementia become too exhausting to manage at home and then make all manner of medical, psychological and dental … [Read more...]
Good Grandparenting: Should You Let Grandchildren Win at Games?
Some of the best family times are found when playing games. Does good grandparenting mean letting the children win at games? How do you know when to let a child win and when is it good to learn how to lose gracefully. We’ve always played many games in our family, starting with simple ones when children were as young as three. Deciding to let children win a game has to do with a number of … [Read more...]
Grandparents Traveling With Family
Grandparents traveling with family, in this case, travel with grandchildren can be a wonderful experience. However, there are also challenges along the way. We’ve been traveling with our grandchildren since they were young. They are comfortable with us and we with them. We recently returned from a road trip where we stayed in motels for five nights. At the time, our granddaughter was eight … [Read more...]
Dealing with Adult Children like Adults
It’s hard to imagine that our adult children will have to take care of us some day. However, it’s also hard to believe that many retirement age baby boomers have the responsibility of caring for elderly parents. Dealing with adult children like adults is the first step in preparing them to help you as you age. This became clear to me as I encounter resistance from my mother. She has … [Read more...]
Working Adults Suffer When Caregiving for Elderly
MetLife Mature Market Institute released a study about caregiving for elderly. Working adults who are also elder caregivers can suffer financially. The study found there are 10 million working caregivers who lose an estimated $3 trillion in lost wages and benefits if they’re forced to quit their job prematurely. The average caretaker loses $304,000. That amount doesn’t include the … [Read more...]
Creative Problem Solving when Dealing with Dementia
We moved my mother from Texas to Arizona to be closer to us. She wasn’t thrilled with the idea, but with clear symptoms of dementia, it was the wise thing to do. Even though she doesn’t live with us, I’m dealing with dementia on a daily basis. People often talk about the pain of coping with dementia in the latter stages, but it’s not easy in the early stages either. It has given us many … [Read more...]
HALT: How to Have a Healthy Relationship
How to have a healthy relationship with grandchildren is a primary concern for most grandparents. It was the second day of babysitting grandchildren, ages eleven, eight and two. Everything had gone well. There hadn’t been sibling bickering, tantrums or other outbursts that can make this experience difficult. We had decided to spend the morning at the Phoenix AZ Children’s Museum. It was … [Read more...]
Help For Grandparents
Ed. Note-Joan McCoy responded to a request about retirees starting a business. Joan tells her story about starting a business providing help for grandparents who want to enrich their young ones lives with books, music and video. Six years ago I had my first grandchild. From the moment I saw her, I knew that being a grandparent was going to be one of the best things that could ever have … [Read more...]