CAREGIVING’S PROGRESSIVE PARTY PARTICIPANTS: Welcome to SandwichINK . This site is written with the Sandwich Generation in mind. My goal is the encourage you and inform you as you go about your daily tasks. If you are a caregiver for an elderly parent, still taking care of a child and/or helping take care of grandkids, you will find articles of interest for all those needs.  SandwichINK has articles about caregiving in general, the wide variety of needs of the elderly , Alzheimer’s Disease , Parkinson’s Disease , products to help you deal with all these needs, and more. You will also find articles with suggestions for fun projects to do with grandkids (and kids), games to play with them, ways to encourage them and help them learn , creative things to do at the different holidays , long distance ideas , etc. As a regular participant in the Boomers & Seniors Blog Carnival , a daily Twitter user, and a continual internet researcher, I’m constantly on the lookout for useful , frugal , and interesting information for you. I’d love to have you join us on a regular basis by bookmarking this site and signing up for the free email or RSS feed option on the right.

If you are not part of the progressive party but would like to join in, pop over to Caregiving to find out all the details. It’s open to all and wonderfully FREE

Now, to quote Paul Harvey, “it’s time for the rest of the story:”

CAREGIVING VS. HOSPITALITY

Are you a caregiver for someone in your home? A spouse, elderly parent, child or grandchild? Do you want to be able to invite friends over to your house for a meeting, maybe for a Bible study group, a Neighborhood Watch meeting, or a book club? Do you feel frustrated because you or your patient don’t feel that is a viable option? Perhaps it makes your beloved uncomfortable or there just isn’t enough room for it. You’ll be glad to know there are other options available to you that you might not have thought of.

1. Restaurants – This is one of my favorites. Depending on the size of the group, you can either sit in the regular section at a booth or table or you could find one of the many restaurants with a private room available for groups to use. I’ve seen these in everything from fast food, such as McDonalds and Chick-Fil-A, to sit-down restaurants, such as Denny’s and Marie Callendar’s. Of course, you’ll probably need to make arrangements in advance. Just be sure if it is a restaurant where you would normally tip, that you tip an appropriate amount for the size of the group AND the time you spend there. If you take up a server’s table for more than 45 minutes, you should tip the full amount for every 45 –60 minutes you are there. Let them know that you will be tipping extra. They should be happy to know they are getting their normal tips, keep the water and coffee flowing, and welcome you back with open arms. Your group gets a pleasant place to visit with no clean-up afterwards. That’s always a win-win situation that makes me smile.

2. Apartment Community Room – Do you, or one of the other members, live in an apartment? If so, check to see if there is a community room available that you are allowed to reserve in advance. Most apartments make these available for free or for a small charge to cover extra cleaning. Check the room out in advance to be sure it will work well for your purposes. I visited one complex that was delightful, but it was set up for theater watching. This is fine if your meeting is more of a class setting, such as a guest speaker for Neighborhood Watch. If you are planning a time where everyone is sharing and getting to know each other, a less formal set up where everyone is in a circle would work better.

3. Business Community Centers – Check with your local businesses to see if any of them have a meeting room that they make available for free to community groups. When I was a neighborhood watch captain, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that my local grocery store had one available for reservation to all local groups.

4. Churches – Many churches allow members to reserve a room for use for a community meeting as long as it is not already being used at that time. We held Neighborhood Watch meetings at one of our members’ local church and appreciated that the pastor often joined us for the meetings since his church was in the area. Obviously, your own church would be the best place to start. If they don’t have a viable option, check other churches near where you live.

5. Schools – Many schools have rooms available for community groups to use on a first-come, first-served, reservation basis. Some charge a small fee for the use while others make them available for free. Call the secretary at a local school to ask what the policies and availabilities are.

6. Libraries – Being a confirmed bookaholic, I always get to know my libraries well. One of the things I discovered is that many of them also have community rooms available. Call your local librarian to find out their rules and requirements.

7. Trade Services for Space – If your group prefers a home environment, see if one or more of the members would be willing to have it in their home, if you will agree to lead it. The pastor in charge of our home Bible study groups was wise enough to realize many people love to share their homes, but hate to be in charge. Others love to be in charge, but don’t have a home available. He set up his Bible study sign-ups to always have a person who volunteered to host and another who volunteered to lead. If your church or group doesn’t have that as an option, you can set up a group on your own with that as the plan.  You could even split the duties three ways. One person could host the event at their house, another would commit to bringing the cookies and coffee, and a third person could agree to lead. That makes it a lot easier for everyone. If you aren’t the only caregiver in your group, others will also be very grateful.

8. Virtual Meetings – Sometimes, no matter how much you need to get out and about, it just isn’t an option. I went through a season like that during the last two months my sweet father was on hospice. There was too much going on, and too many crises, to allow me to get out at all, let alone hostess any get-togethers. For those times, the caregiving community online becomes even more valuable and vital. Just a few minutes of the the normal visiting of sites, chatting on Facebook or tweeting on Twitter can be a big encouragement to an overwhelmed and exhausted caregiver. If there is a blog carnival or “progressive party ” going on, such as the one going on right now, that can also be a blessing. These are the moments when, instead of being the one giving the hospitality, you get to be blessed by others’ virtual hospitality. One excellent site to help with that, (in addition to SandwichINK ), is Caregiving . And as you read above, they are hosting a Progressive Party to introduce you to other great sites and give you some extra encouragement along the way. Bookmarking some of those sites that especially interest you and revisiting them in normal times will provide you with interesting and informative updates. Spending a few minutes at one or more in the midst of a crisis can give you that much-needed break you need, even if you can’t get away to take that break.

Caregiving is hard work , no matter how much you love the person you are caring for. It’s important to make sure you do have some time to yourself for something you are interested in. Hopefully, these eight ideas will give you a great launching pad to a fun outing on a regular basis. If you have other creative ideas, please share them with us in the comments section below.