Friday, July 4, 2008

THE SANDWICH GENERATION (1)



THOMAS - A VERY SERIOUS YOUNG MAN


Like many 'Baby Boomers' I have elderly relatives as well as children and grandchildren. So after a busy week sitting on 3 separate Employment Tribunals,
attending Council committees and conducting a Saturday Advice Surgery in Wilstead
I am off to a Jungle Birthday Party in Watford for my smallest grandson Thomas, who is 3 next week and is mad on animals and the film Madagascar.

On Sunday I have to head south to my home town Portsmouth for 2/3 days to finalise the move of my frail 92 year old aunt from a sheltered flat into a nursing home.

In Elstow this week we have had a dropped kerb installed at Bunyans Mead to enable wheelchair bound residents to access the social centre more easily and very soon we should have a lorry ban sign and better road signs installed at the Elstow roundabout to prevent continental lorries straying on to the Abbeyfields Estate.

Wilstead has one of the largest Women's Institute Branches in Bedfordshire, with 40+ members, including me. On Thursday we had a fascinating talk entitled "All About Chocolate" from Jill, a Bedfordshire Librarian, who told us the history of chocolate using 7 chosen books and gave us a taste of 5 different types of chocolate.

Wilstead also has a first class amateur dramatic group, the Wilstead Players, who have won several awards with a one act play "Lear's Daughter". They are giving a charity performance of this play on Wednesday 9 July at 8pm in Wilstead Village Hall.

Have a good weekend

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Kicking off “Sandwich Generation Month,” the results of a new Harris Poll commissioned by Presto Services Inc. and Christian Companion Senior Care show that of the 20 million U.S. “Sandwichers”—those struggling with the responsibilities of caring for their children and their aging parents:
• 53% feel forced to choose between neglecting either their parents’ needs or their kids’ needs at least ONCE EACH WEEK.
• 20% of Sandwichers make this stressful decision EVERY DAY.
• 40% believe their parents did a better job of balancing multi-generational caregiving than they do.
Two companies offering some practical help to ease caregiving stress and improve communication with aging parents:
• Presto—which couples an HP Printing Mailbox and Presto Mail service—enables family members to send email messages, family photos and notes of encouragement as well as daily reminders, medical instructions and more to seniors who aren't online—saving time and easing the stress of caregiving.
• Christian Companion Senior Care is the first organization to offer practical in-home assistance and spiritual encouragement, making it possible for seniors to remain in their own homes and live independently.
It would be intersting to see what your blog readers thinks that would help them manage multi-generational caregiving responsibilities – a) flex hours at work, b) an understanding spouse, c) help from an outside source, d) technology advances.