Katy & her mom.

[Guest guest]

Dear Katy - I felt the way you do a year or so ago when my mom came to live

with me. I got lots of advice from people then, and one that seemed to work

well was to hire someone to come in and be with her every day for a few

hours. I could get out and shop or just go somewhere by myself. If she was

an active member of some church, they might be able to send someone over

regularly. Otherwise, there are hospice-type programs you could call. Look

up " Senior Services " in the yellow pages. If you don't find exactly what

you're looking for, call one of the listings and ask them. They often have

mailing lists of related services.

 

Another suggestion is to have your siblings trade off spending the weekend

with her, or even taking her to their house, if she's able to travel at all.

If they come to your place, you could switch and stay at their place or rent

a motel somewhere.

 

You also need someone to talk things over with. I have seven siblings living

all over the US, with one in Germany. Whenever I had fears, I would call

one, usually trading between the three or four more local ones. Major

decisions were made via group virtual and realtime meetings, never me alone.

Both of these relieved a lot of stress and brought our family much closer

together too.

 

Katy, if you want to email me privately, I would be happy to share more. BTW

my sister took charge of Mom's finances, a BIG burden relieved!

 

Warm Regards - Susette