Saturday is THE BIG DAY of the month – Valentine’s Day. What are you doing for your special senior citizens who don’t live close to you?

In case caregiving duties have kept you busy and you haven’t had a chance to pick out something special, here are a few ideas you can do from home.

1. Smilebox greeting card – www.Smilebox.com – has some fun new designs that are perfect for Valentine’s Day. I made this one just for you, to say HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY to you! You could use this particular card or select one of their other cute Valentines. Add photos of the kids and grandkids, and sent it on its way with your love to a variety of elderly relatives.

Make a Smilebox postcard

2. If you want to add a gift card to your greeting, Amazon has a cute little e-card that can carry your gift of any amount along with your Valentine love. It will arrive in their email box the minute you send it or you can choose a time and date for it to arrive.

3. If music is more your “thing,” Amazon can handle that, as can iTunes. You can send them a song for .99, an album for $5-15, or even a TV show or movie. All from your computer to theirs.

Now the caveat to these is that they require a tech-savvy senior citizen or one who has someone who can help them with these gifts. If your beloved elder doesn’t have that, you’d be better off taking a more old-fashioned route. Pop out to a good book store, pick up a music cd they would enjoy, then hustle over to the post office. There you will find free Express Mail envelopes (which helps make up for the price the package will cost to mail it quickly) and hopefully your gift can get there by Saturday. Most of them are one day, but some require two days.

Another less-tech idea is to call a florist in their town, and order flowers. It won’t be cheap but if you get a cute vase such as a spring teacup, they’ll be able to enjoy it all year long.

Once you’re done, take a deep breath. And know that even if it gets there late, they’ll love it. Especially if you call them on Valentine’s Day to say Hi, and let them know a special surprise is on its way to them.

Amazon. In case you haven’t guessed, it’s one of my favorite places to purchase books. The prices are great I almost always get books for 30% or more off the normal price.The service is excellent. I’ve only seen them make two mistakes in all the years I’ve bought from them. And I buy a lot of books. They are terrific. But did you know, it’s not just books they are great at? They carry a multitude of other products as well. Today, we’re talking sheets.

As a caregiver, I’m always needing sheets. I have sheets for the spare beds for my grandkids. I’ve bought sheets when taking care of elder relatives. And, of course, I’ve had to buy sheets for myself. I must admit, I’ve gotten a bit spoiled. When I was in my 20s I just bought any old sheet, not realizing there was a difference. Somewhere in my 30s I read up on sheets and discovered that some are 100% cotton and some aren’t. Some sheets are 100 count, some 200 count, some are downright luxurious at 400 or 500 count. The higher the count, the softer and nicer they are. And the higher the count, the longer they stay nice even when you have beloveds who have many “accidents” requiring lots of machine washing.

It used to be that I had to haunt the stores looking for sales just to find the 200 count sheets at a “sale” price of $30. I know many friends who find them at one of their special stores for $10 but with caregiving keeping me hopping, I rarely have the time to devote to hunting down those great prices. Along comes Amazon and I’m in sheet heaven. Almost every time I’ve looked, I’ve been able to find gorgeous sheets for $15-30, and that even includes king size. Today for example, I typed in cotton twin sheets. I found a set of 100% Egyptian cotton jersey sheets for $16.53. I also found Tommy Hilfiger 200 thread cotton sheets for $24. Not bad at all. If I’d needed a king or queen, I’d have done even better. They had a Pike Street 510-thread count 100% cotton sateen sheet set for $23.06! Now that’s definitely my cup of tea.

Not only that, but I did all this “shopping” from my computer, in 15 minutes, in between caring for a loved elder and a loved, but sick, younger. Now that makes this caregiver very happy!

Many of us in the Sandwich Generation are racking up major mileage on our cars, taking both young and old to a wide variety of appointments such as doctor, haircut, therapy, grocery shopping, etc. We may also be toting our crew around to gymnastics, basketball, soccer, bridge, and mall-walking. Many of these trips may combine both generations at one time. Sometimes that works well. Sometimes that works poorly. Most of the time, it’s just an extra layer of juggling. The noise level of the happy, bubbly (sometimes squabbly) younger generation can sometimes collide with the older generations’ tendency to jump at too much noise.

Granted these are generalizations but I’m sure many of you recognize yourselves in those descriptions. Is there any help to be found? I have a few suggestions.

Music soothes the savage beast and often the raucous toddler. Classical music is a great brain stimulate for all ages, something the grandparents often enjoy, and even the younger set like it. Christian praise and worship is my personal favorite, though my parents lean more towards the older hymns. My grandkids enjoy both of those so that is great. Kids’ Bible songs are fun for all ages. Many cars allow you to adjust the music to play primarily in the back and I often use that when traveling with all.

Audio stories capture the imagination of all, promote excellent language and speaking skills, and even assist in a child’s learning to read, or improving their reading. Depending on the stories, the grandparents might enjoy listening as well and remembering reading the stories when they were children, or they might prefer to have the sound be in the back so they can quietly chat with you.

Educational CDs can be a big help for your grandkids or kids as they learn by listening to math facts set to music (we are having fun with several different multiplication sets right now).  You can also purchase a set of cds called Schoolhouse Rock! These were short TV segments produced in the late 70’s through early 80’s that introduce kids to different subjects including grammar, history, and more. Conjunction Junction has been a favorite in our family for over 20 years now.

Then there is my favorite – a DVD player for the back seats. I got one a few years ago and have been so grateful for it time after time. I have a wide variety of Bible story DVDs, Christian videos (we LOVE Hermie and his friends), educational videos like Leap Frog, and more. I pop one of those in, my grandkids start learning, and peace and quiet reigns in the front for the grownups. You might even keep a couple of old movies or TV shows that your elders might remember and enjoy sharing with the younger bunch. Did you know you can buy DVDs of many of the old TV shows such as Father Knows Best, Ozzie and Harriet, and Leave it To Beaver?

You can purchase a portable set with one or two screens for under $200 but research those carefully. Many of them are a bit on the delicate side. I would recommend an extended warranty and purchasing from a store you trust. If you are at a point where you are looking to purchase another vehicle, you might want to consider adding a built-in DVD player. It is more expensive but it will most likely last longer which should even out the cost. While this may seem like an unnecessary luxury, it can be a tremendous blessing to the multigenerational travelers – for both short and long trips.

Traveling together can be a lot of fun, but it can also be a bit noisy, and sometimes stressful. These ideas can all help to bring families together to learn or sing or just have fun in a relaxing atmosphere.

P.S. Many of the above items are available for free or very inexpensive fees at your local library. You can find many of them used at thrift stores, used book stores, and online sites such as Half.com and Amazon.com’s used options. I like to purchase them so we can use them over and over and I don’t have to worry if we get a scratch on them. Amazon.com is my favorite resource because of their great prices and fast shipping. If that’s your choice as well, you can click on these links to go there post-haste:  

Father Knows Best and other Oldie Goldies Schoolhouse Rock . Hermie and Friends Leapfrog