“As they age, our parents might need more help,” says Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S. Everyone needs to start making it a top priority to take good care of his or her parents, especially those who are already in their advanced years. Keep in mind that you must see to it that your senior parents receive the best kind of love and care from you. Otherwise, they will end up getting hurt, which can be crucial as they grow old. According to a therapist, the more a parent grows old, the more he becomes needy for love and attention. Because of this, it is every child’s duty, regardless of age, to meet the mentioned needs.
For today’s article, we are going to share with you some of the tips and tricks to remember when it comes to taking good care of an aging parent. First of all, you have to recognize the reality that there can be challenges that will be hard to deal with. “With the right mindset, it may be possible to handle challenges better and pursue success without getting down on yourself,” shares Catherine Moore, Psychologist, MBA. Keep in mind that a lot of things may change the moment your parent enters into his advanced years. For example, he will start to become more forgetful about specific items. At the same time, he may begin to show a different side or personality that you have never seen before. Understanding all these factors is highly essential so that you can think of better ways on how to handle every challenge that you encounter.
Below are some of the top tips and tricks to remember:
Be More Patient
As already mentioned above, your parent will start to manifests an attitude that you never knew existed. You may begin to realize that it becomes more difficult and challenging to handle the way he acts when you are around or when he is with other people. As such, you have to increase your dose of patience and understanding for your parent, who is getting old. Remember that you can never control the way they would act or talk about something. However, you can change and be mindful of your actions. Make sure that you do what is right to avoid getting them hurt.
Discuss Living Arrangements
One of the things that you must consider when it comes to senior parent care is to discuss important topics such as living arrangements. As soon as you realize that your beloved parent is starting to get old, do not hesitate to ask about where he wants to stay once he reaches a particular age. You have to be open about your thoughts and feelings about the choices so that you will not encounter problems in the future. Take note that some older people prefer to live at home for the aged as everything they need may be there.
On the other hand, there are also those who prefer to live with their children and grandkids. If your parent chooses the latter option, be sure to talk to your spouse about it as soon as you get an opportunity to do so. Talk about things that matter before it is too late to decide.
Make Time For Them
Remember that every parent wants nothing but the best for their children. It is the reason why a lot of them are not demanding to see their adult children whom they believe are too busy at work or in the business. However, a lovely person understands that it should not be the case. As a loving individual, you need to see to it that you always make time for your senior parent no matter how crazy or hectic your schedule is. Stop making excuses for not reaching on to them, particularly on special occasions. Christina Steinorth, MFT, a psychotherapist suggested “setting a reminder on your phone to check in with your parents and see how they’re doing.” Take note that your parent is not getting any younger, which means that you are not sure as to how long of your time is left with them. Make every moment count.
Support Them In Everything
Are you aware that many senior people make decisions that can be shocking to everyone in the family? For example, some married couples decide to obtain a divorce when they are already past fifty or sixty years old. Another example is some old individuals decide to travel the world and become missionaries even if it means leaving some of their family members behind.
As you can see, many senior people make decisions that can be unusual or difficult to accept for everyone. For this reason, you need to promise yourself that you will remain to be supportive no matter what happens. Find a way to let your parent know that you are with him in every choice he makes.
Make it your number one goal to paint a smile on your aging parent’s face.