Category Archives: Caregiving

Hospital Discharge Checklist

Checklist: Hospital Discharge

Smart caregivers know that the time to develop a hospital the discharge plan is the minute your parent is admitted. Otherwise you can find yourself scrambling to make post-hospital arrangements. Here’s our guide of what to do when your elderly parent is discharged from the hospital.

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pill box

Caregivers Are Part of the Team

Hello medical professional. Do you see me me over here in the corner in the not too comfortable chair? I’m the one who drove your patient to the hospital today. I’m the one who took time off from work and will be working late tonight as a result.  I’m the one who will sit here […]

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help

When You Suck At Accepting Help

I’ve long said that the six most annoying words anyone can say to a caregiver are, “You need to take care of yourself.” Why? Because, no sh*t. You don’t think we know that? You don’t think we are acutely aware that we can’t go down because there are people depending on us, and, well, because […]

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woman in waiting room

Manage Your Expectations; Manage Your Stress

My Dad always used to say, “Hope for the best, but expect (and prep for) the worst.” I think about those words a lot as a caregiver. On the one hand, I am really trying to be mindful of the vibes I put into the universe, and so I feel like I should only focus […]

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The Working Daughter Manifesto

The working daughter manifesto is our battle cry. This is the way we balance eldercare with career and kids and life. As a result, we make this life work for us. Get an 8×10 glossy poster here.

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older couple dancing in kitchen

6 Adjustments That Make A Home Safer for Your Elderly Parent

Guest post by Catherine Collins If your elderly parent notices their mobility, hearing or sight aren’t what they used to be, or if you have elderly guests that have to stay with you for some time, there are many home adjustments you can implement to make their life easier, safer and more pleasant. Here’s where […]

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egg on brick wall

An iPhone Case, and a Caregiver, Crack

Monday, I went to the Apple Store to get a replacement for my iPhone case that had ripped. It’s a hard shell case with a rubber coating on top. I could care less that it ripped, but I needed my husband to stop talking about it. I walked into the store and was quasi-greeted by […]

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skydiving

How Caregivers Can Start Living and Stop Waiting

Perhaps one of the greatest challenges we have as caregivers is trying to live –now – not later when things are different. As I write this, I am waiting for news, the kind that could be life altering. I was hoping to receive it last month, and then last week at the latest. Now I’m […]

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rustic, vintage mailbox

An Open Letter to Working Daughters: We Won’t Be Friends

Dear Working Daughter, If you ever talk to me the way you talk to yourself, we will not be friends. If you ever judge me as harshly as you judge yourself, we will not be friends. I deserve better than that. I mean c’mon! I do my best. Sure I take time for me sometimes, […]

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buoys

6 Tips For Setting Boundaries When You Are A Caregiver

Working daughters, you know you have the right to have a life, don’t you? The Working Daughter Bill of Rights says so. It also says you have the right to set boundaries — to balance your needs with the needs of the people you care for, to set personal limits and to say no to […]

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letter to self

Write A Letter To Yourself

Part three  in our series on caregiving with intention. Recently I discovered the podcast Advice to My Younger Self when host Sara Holtz invited me on the show. The interview got me thinking about. “If I knew then what I know now…” More than the tactical advice I’d share, (like always book the first appointment after lunch with […]

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day timer

7 Steps to Help You Plan for Life After Caregiving

Part two in our series on caregiving with intention. Does the idea of life after caregiving make your insides knot up? Is that because when you read those words your emotions feel like the little metal ball in a pinball machine bouncing from excitement to guilt to relief to sadness?   It’s okay to admit […]

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