Moving is a tough job! Moving also tends to cause us to get behind on important details and such is the case this week as I JUST realized an interesting new Boomers & Seniors: News You Can Use came out last week! Not only that, EldercareABC had two informative blog carnivals on October 7 AND 14! The fact that I was caravanning cross country during most of this time period, with limited web use, could have something to do with this lapse on my part.

Well, now that I’ve discovered all this interesting info, here’s a brief review of each to whet your appetite, along with the encouragement to join me in exploring them fully to help us on our joint journey of Sandwich Generation senior home care giving and grandparenting!

Boomers and Seniors: News You Can Use

I especially enjoyed the article by Patty Grace on hospice and palliative care. As I commented there, we were very blessed by both of these during my dad’s last few weeks on earth. They were wonderful, and walked us through everything step by step, but her article is an excellent overview of both systems.

Another article that caught my eye was Memory Triggers, a book to help us communicate better with our aging parents who have dementia.

You’ll find interesting articles dealing with fun ways to exercise which can help lower your cholesterol, ways to communicate with aging parents who have dementia, tips on coaching, social security and retirement, and more at Ageless-Sages, who wonderfully hosted this particular Boomers and Seniors!

EldercareABC Blog Carnival – October 7

The October 7 issue has a fascinating pair of articles by Derrick Grant explaining what SLUMs is and how it can help us with parents who may have started struggling with dementia, along with versions of this test in several different languages.

You’ll also find articles on the lack of a cost of living raise for Social Security, how to deal with senior assistance resistance, and more!

EldercareABC Blog Carnival – October 14

I found several interesting articles about caregiver stress and coping strategies in this post. I was also especially encouraged by the personal essay, The Two Millies. It was so sweet to read about this sweet friendship that developed in a care facility between two aging mothers and their families.

All in all, three interesting blog carnivals with plenty of useful information! Which was your favorite article?

Sandwich Generation caregivers tend to be in perpetual motion. If we’re not busy with senior home care giving, we’re often playing games with grandkids. If we’re not doing that, you can often find us at the computer. Our grandkids tend to stay pretty busy as well, because that’s what kids do. But our aging parents don’t always keep so busy and, while that’s not necessarily bad, it’s also not good. Staying active, mentally and physically, is good for the body, the mind, and the spirits, helping to stave off depression and unneeded worry. How can a busy caregiver help to encourage more activities for their senior parents?

Just as with grandkids’ activity sites, there are interesting senior citizens’ activity sites. One such resource for us is the Nursing Home Activities Resource. While their primary audience is activity directors for nursing home and assisted living facilities, they have an eye out for us senior home care givers as well. I enjoyed looking around their site and found some interesting ideas to share with others plus some old favorites from years past.

Bridge and other card games have been very popular for many decades. My dad had to quit playing a couple of years after he got Parkinson’s Disease, because of his hand shaking, but many seniors can continue to enjoy playing well into their 80s and beyond. I used to drive a dear senior friend all over our fair city once every two weeks, for her Bridge game. She and her friends had been playing since they had worked at the same high school – over 50 years before!

Crossword puzzles were an old favorite my dad enjoyed til a couple of months before he went to be with the Lord, and is something my senior mom still has fun with. Sudoku is a new variation of this. It can be a bit tough for some, but many seniors have taken to it with a vengeance!

My husband’s grandma and grandpa loved to go their church every Sunday night to sing together with others. No sermon at this particular service, just lots of rousing, happy, wonderful old hymns. I would have loved to join them if we hadn’t lived on the opposite coast. Definitely kept their spirits up just thinking about it through the week!

The website includes group activities, things to do by yourself, musical fun, exercises, party plans, and even interesting ideas for those dealing with dementia care due to Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s, etc.

I especially enjoyed their article on a Luau party, complete with a video of the get-together (with a great song ) as well as another video showing how to make paper leis. Many seniors have enjoyed trips to Hawaii in the past and this would be a nice way to spark good memories and stories for the grandkids. For those involved in the senior ministry at their church, this could be a really fun project.

I have been enjoying their newsletter for awhile and am adding this to my bookmarks as well. How about you? What are some of your senior parents’ favorite activities? We’d love to hear about them.

What seemed like a basic school assignment opened up many more doors than we expected and we both enjoyed the conversation. Very creative and interesting! And in case you’d also enjoy reading about the therapy dogs, you can find the article at the ConnPost – http://www.connpost.com/pets/ci_11662896 .