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Sweet Smiles for Young and Old
There are so many joys for the Sandwich Generation. For older Sandwich-ers who are helping with elderly parents as well as with young grandkids – those cute tots do a great job of bringing a smile to everyones faces – including our beloved elderly with memory issues.
Illness Challenges for Memory Impaired
Sadly, there are also many problems in the Sandwich Generation. One is when the grandkids get sick. Some Sandwich-ers may make difficult choices – either only help the young or the old during a season of illness. Others opt to continue caring for all ages but keep them separated. And others try ignoring illnesses and going about their normal business. Of course, that can lead to our beloved elderly getting very sick as well.
What do you do when your sweet senior has memory issues and doesn’t remember how bad they feel when they get sick. Grand baby gets sick and they don’t want to miss a second of their time with the cutie pie. You remind them how miserable they are when they are sick and, due to the memory issues, they may think you are exaggerating. Sadly, some even may suspect you are lying.
Smart Phone Memory Tip
Here’s a cool tip that may help some of you. Use your smart phone’s video camera to be their memory for them. Video tape them when they are at their sickest. Talk to them on the video tape – explaining this bug they have came because sweet little baby Jilly had a bad cold and they didn’t want to keep her away. Ask them if they think they should hibernate away from each other when they and baby Jilly are sick.
When they are feeling like death warmed over, most will definitely agree, no matter the memory issues. Save that tape only for them. Next time the adorable catches a nasty bug and has to come over, make two separate areas. Let grandpa or grandma see the cutie pie but keep them far away and lots of hand washing. And if they’ve forgotten why you’re doing that, share that video memory – along with lots of others that are much more fun for them. That way they can still enjoy the time. But they can also be much safer.
Vitamin C is My Go-To Tip
Of course, for those like me who juggle it all and deal with illness at both ends, I personally love taking Vitamin C capsules – usually 3000 mg daily. How about you? Got any tips to share with us about sick babies and sick great-grandparents? We’d love to hear – either here or at Facebook.com/SandwichInkForTheSandwichGeneration.
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