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Elder CareTips:
Mastering The Eldercare Maze™
October 15, 2006
Downsizing and De-Cluttering:
Who Wants To
Pack A Martini Shaker?
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Thinking about the
need to sell a house or de-clutter so an older person can
stay safely at home? Do the job an inch at a time and
you'll avoid the overwhelm that hits when you look at
the whole job. Tell yourself, "I'm going to clean the
garage this weekend," and you're likely to end up with
a bigger mess than you started with as things get
pulled out and left in new piles. Start with one
corner, one closet, one drawer or one shelf, and you
have a much better chance of really accomplishing
something.
Start small and you'll be able to finish what you
started. Looking at what you've accomplished will give
you the energy to work on another area tomorrow.
Has It Been Used This Year?
If you haven't used it, worn it, or eaten it in the
last year, you probably don't need to pack it or store it. How long has it
been since anyone looked at those old magazines? Who
uses those strange kitchen appliances and tools that
take up so much room? The reading glasses you kept in
case you lost your new pair could go to the Lions so
someone else can use them. The clothes you've been
keeping in case you lose those 20 pounds will be out
of style when the time comes anyway.
Do You Have Multiples?
You can only wear one pair of boots at a time. Do you
need half a dozen old pillows that weren't comfortable
to begin with? You'll never use those 75 cheap
advertising pens in the drawer. No one "needs" all the
florist vases you held on to or the dusty fruitcake
tins from holidays past.
Will It Replace Itself?
Boxes, glass jars, plastic bags, and plastic
containers all replace themselves every time we shop.
Keep a very small selection and unload the rest.
Use a Box, Not a Pile
Don't make a discard pile. Use a good size box or bag
(one that's small enough to lift when it's full). If
you make a pile you'll find yourself sorting through
it again and again. The idea is to sort just once.
Instead of asking, "Is this something we should throw
away or donate?" try reverse psychology. Ask yourself,
"Do I really, really want this object, do I have
a real use
for it, and will I wonder why I kept it when I unpack
it?" If the answers are is "No, no, and yes" then put it in your
discard/donate container. When you've finished your
small project of the day, get those discard bags or boxes out
of the house right away so no one is tempted to start
going through them again.
Thanks to my mother, not a single cardboard
box has found its way back into society. We
receive gifts in boxes from stores that went out
of business twenty years ago.
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Elder
CareTip:
Diffuse It |
Caring for a very confused elder who
gets agitated or angry with you and there's no
jollying him or her out of it? Try leaving the room
and changing your clothes - put on a different shirt,
a hat, or change your hair. Come back in and start all
over again. Often they won't realize that it was you
they were upset with.
It's starting to get darker earlier
these days. Before you know it the house has gotten
dim. We're starting to turn on the lights before
dinner these days.
As we age our eyes need more light to
see well. It behooves us all to make sure we have
enough non-glare light sources and that we've replaced
any burned out bulbs, especially near stairs and other
places where someone might trip.
If your elder's house has stairs -
especially into a dark basement or dark yard - they
can be a lot harder to negotiate when the light is
poor. In addition to making sure there is nothing on
them to trip over, and that the banisters are firm,
consider putting something on the treads to make them
easier to see.
Glow in the dark tape or
glow in the dark treads will make those stairs a
whole lot easier for older eyes to see.
Recently the questions that I am asked over and over
again have been about VA benefits. Frankly, the VA
website and other information sources are sorely
lacking in real, hard information. I have been looking
for quite a while now for a good second source to send
you to for information about the Aid and Attendance
benefit. Well, I've finally found it...and it doesn't
come from the VA.
Success at last! I've read every word on this site,
and I think this is the best
VA
Aid & Attendance resource I've ever seen. The
author is to be congratulated for providing such
well-researched information. I strongly suggest that
if you know anyone who might benefit you send them to
veteranaid.org.
If you live to be
one hundred, you've got it made. Very few people
die past that age.
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