Tips For Grandparents and Caregivers

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The Sweet – Educational and Fun Books for Grandparents and Grandkids

As you know, I am always on the lookout for great resources for grandparents and grandkids. While sharing fun brainteasers and riddles

with one of my elementary school-age grandchildren, I discovered she had never heard of Braille. It was a fun A-HA moment as I knew we were getting together soon and I am always on the lookout for fun ideas for our visits. I already had the craft projects planned but some books would work out nicely as well! Thus, I ordered:

• The Secret Code – An easy reader book about a child who is blind explaining Braille to one of his friends.
• Who Was Helen Keller – This is another in a series of kids’ biographies that I love
• Louis Braille: The Boy Who Invented Books for the Blind – A Scholastic biography for kids
• Helen Keller – Also a Scholastic biography for kids
• Guide Dogs! A Kids Book About Guide & Other Assistance Dogs: Fun Facts About Canine Companions For Independence, Learn About These Dog Hero – I could have bought the paperback for this but it was $12.99. So I opted for the Kindle version for $4.99 and will share it with these grandkids cousins as well. 🙂

In addition, I bought two iPhone apps to use when we get together. They are called BrailleNumber (99 cents) and LearnBraille ($1.99). They should be a fun way to help my grandkids learn a bit more about Braille.

These books and apps should make a fun visit for both grandparents AND grandkids even more interesting.

The Bitter-Sweet – Toilet-ry Issues for Caregivers

It’s cold and flu and other greasy grimy icky bugs, germs, and virus season. It impacts our elderly parents and grandparents. It keeps our kids and grandkids out of school. And it makes writing tougher with “cold-head” ( 🙂 ). So today will be a random set of info and ideas for a variety of issues we may deal with today, tomorrow, next week, next month or sometime in the future. How’s that for definitive. (That’s what comes from sneezing, coughing and enjoying the extra energy from a couple of Excedrin. 🙂 ).

For many who are caring for aging parents, bathroom issues can be a troublesome situation. This can range from simple UTIs to the extreme problems that can come from diarrhea from known or unknown causes and made worse when dealing with memory issues. While researching for another topic, I found several interesting and somewhat encouraging albeit bittersweet articles on dealing with this specific topic and added them to my Pinterest board, Caregiving Needs and Resources. In addition, some items to purchase BEFORE you need them could include:

• Rubber gloves
• Thermometers
• Strong deoderizers like Renuzit Super Odor Deoderizer and Citrus Magic Solid Air Freshener
• Plastic Trash Bags
• Vicks (I saw this on a CSI show. They suggested putting it under the nostrils to help with the smell of a dead body. Turns out it can definitely help with a variety of bothersome smells.)
• Facemasks – they don’t truly keep out the smell but they do help, as I discovered years ago when helping an elderly senior in the hospital for a couple of day by cleaning out her multi kitty potty box. Oyyyyy!
• If your caree has recurrent testing needs such as for UTI, you can usually request extra specimen cups. That way, when you need to test, you might be able to just call or email your doctor, have them send the orders to the lab, get the specimen at home which is usually easier for all and drop it off. Be sure you pick up more cups each time you turn one in.
• I liked the idea of a plastic runner that I read about at one site (which I thought I saved but apparently did not – cold-head strikes again) – tho I would think a washable runner or bath mats would be easier to clean.

By the by, while we’re on the topic of thinking ahead. For those who are thinking of moving and foresee eldercare in their future, I cannot recommend one thing enough. Try to ensure you have a single story home with at least one walk-in shower or a two-story with a bedroom and bathroom with a walk-in shower on the first floor. That will be such a blessing if you ever have to help an elderly senior (or even a spouse or older child with an injury) with bathing. Especially if there are any going-to-the-bathroom accidents. I learned that from my senior parents’ experience as they cared for their own elderly parents!

The Sweet Encouragement – Complete With Camellias

Spring Flowers Coming!

I don’t know about your neck of the woods, but here in the Sacramento area of California, we grandparents are already enjoying spring flowers! I hope your week goes well, y’all stay healthy, and be sure to stop and smile at the camellias. For that matter, if you have any early ones, enjoy smelling some roses. 🙂

P.S. Instead of making coloring pages for kids and adults, click here for my Pinterest board on Resources for Boomers and Seniors and links to over 100 coloring pages as well as some fun and challenging word searches. Enjoy! 🙂