Thanksgiving is Thursday, followed by Black Friday. Fun times for all on both days   After that, come two of my very favorite celebrations, Advent and Christmas. As a matter of fact, the first Sunday of Advent is this coming Sunday, November 29.  If you haven’t already done so, I would encourage you to purchase at least five candles – four red and one white. Even if you only see your grandkids once or twice through the season they, along with your senior parents, will enjoy an Advent wreath so much. It can also be a blessing to do your own personal devotions using them, whether just on Sundays or every night. And if you get the grandkids more often, this is such a grand way of teaching them about the true meaning of Christmas.

Starting next week, SandwichINK is joining in with Troc, Brock, and Recup by featuring a four week series of Advent ideas for Sandwich Generation Senior Care Givers and Grandparents. You’ll find Advent ideas here as well as at several other sites that will be a part of this fun series, giving you a great way to get in the mood and discover plenty of fun, interesting, and new ideas for celebrating the Advent and Christmas season with your multi-generational family.

The participants of this Advent series are from countries all around the world and are all ages including other Sandwich Generation-ers. I’m looking forward to learning new ways to prepare for Christmas from all over the world, as well as sharing some of my favorites as well. Join us, won’t you, as we have fun preparing our hearts for Advent, while teaching our grandkids the joy of doing the same.

Post from: SandwichINK.com

Advent Wreath Planning: A Sneak Peek for the Sandwich Generation

It’s official, per President Obama. November is National Family Caregivers Month.  Did you know that we have plenty of company, according to Michelle Seitzer of Seniors for Living? In her article, November is National Family Caregivers Month, she wrote, “Says the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, more than 50 million people currently provide care for a chronically ill, disabled or aged family member or friend during any given year.” Of course, you know those of us caring for aging parents probably account for a high percentage of that figure.

November is also Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month. It certainly makes sense to couple the two together. Alzheimer’s disease isn’t the only disease that requires senior home care, but it can be one of the most difficult to deal with. With people living longer and more people getting Alzheimer’s Disease, the number of families impacted by it is definitely growing.

It’s important for us, as senior home care givers, to realize that we do have a lot of company, and we also have a lot of support out there to help us. From Uncle Sam, to Medicare, to our doctors, to our family and friends, to useful blogs and websites like SandwichINK and Seniors For Living, there is help and encouragement available. We need to make sure we utilize that support for ourselves in order to fully support our aging parents. As it says in Ecclesiastes, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If they fall down, they can help each other up. But pity those who fall and have no one to help them up!”

If your family is not living close or is unable to help, some good local resources would be:

• Your church – Many offer senior ministries and these can be a wonderful help. My church offers a food closet, provides a group of volunteers who can do free repairs for seniors, and hosts special seminars to help educate caregivers on a variety of topics.
• City or State Department of Aging – The National Council on Aging has a list of agencies available for each state.
• Meals on Wheels – I can’t recommend this wonderful organization enough. It helps our senior adults, whether they can afford to pay for the service or not, and takes a bit of the burden off of us, the senior home care givers. This is such a blessing to both local caregivers and long distance caregivers.

While I’m on the subject of Meals on Wheels, may I put in a bit of a plug for them and Lindsay Olives? In addition to carrying my very favorite black olives , Did you notice the lovely Christmas wreath at the top of the page?  Lindsay Olives is selling olive leaf wreaths and the proceeds are being donated to Meals on Wheels. These Christmas wreaths make a lovely and fragrant holiday decoration. Not only that, you can use them to encourage the favorite seniors in your family, while also helping to make the holidays a bit brighter for needy seniors through the services of Meals on Wheels. They are available directly from the Lindsay Olives website or by calling (800) 765-2029.   There’s also a fun giveaway for two Christmas wreaths at The Dirty Shirt!

As one who loves wreaths of all kinds, Christmas wreaths, Fall wreaths, you name it, this is a lovely and creative way to help a worthy cause and decorate your house beautifully for Christmas.  You could even use them with your grandkids as the Advent Wreath, or have fun helping them add some handmade decorations to it! Wouldn’t this table setting look even prettier with four red candles around the outside?

This is a fun and thoughtful way to help a great organization and remember National Family Caregivers’ month and Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness month, as well as being a fragrant way to welcome in the holidays.

Post from: SandwichINK.com

November Resources for The Sandwich Generation