One thing that many family caregivers long for is to make their lives just a little bit easier. Hiring an in-home care service to take some of the burden of caring for an elderly loved one can be a big help, but there are also other things that you can do that do not involve professional senior care of any sort. Here, we will take a look at a few things that we have found to be helpful, and hopefully you will find them the same.
First, think of ways that you can make life in the kitchen easier. So much of our time is spent eating, or preparing the food that we eat, that it’s really easy to want to take shortcuts. Usually, these shortcuts result in unhealthy choices, like fast food or take out. They don’t have to, though. By thinking ahead when you’re in the grocery store, you can avoid the unhealthy choices. For example, many stores offer pre-cut vegetables. Using these instead of buying whole vegetables and cutting them yourself can result in a few saved minutes here and there. Also, some grocery stores will do pre-made healthy meals in their deli sections. These might not taste as good as the meal that you might make yourself (sometimes they are better, though!), but having a few of these on hand will make life a lot easier on those busy nights. Rather than swinging by McDonald’s, you can throw a chicken, potatoes, and veggie dinner into the microwave.
Next, look at other areas of your elderly loved one’s life that can be automated. For example, you can hook their bills up to their bank account so instead of needing to write a check out to the electric company every month, the bill will be automatically debited from their checking account before the due date. If having enough in their account is a concern, be sure to sign up for a reminder service so that you can get an email alert a few days before the bill is taken out so that other arrangements can be made if needed. Other things, like scheduling doctors’ appointments, can be done at the previous appointment. This way, you aren’t wasting time trying to change your schedule to get them into a last minute appointment. Again, be sure to ask the office to send out a reminder postcard or give a phone call so that appointments scheduled months ahead of time are not forgotten.
Another really easy thing that can help with chores around the house is to put plastic shopping bags in all of the little garbage cans around the house. Leave a few of these in the bottom of each garbage can so when one is taken out, not only are you removing the garbage quickly, there is another bag right in there to replace the one that was taken so the ease can keep perpetuating itself. When you take the trash out, this will save you a few minutes. By itself, that’s not a lot, but little timesavers here and there really do add up and help you spend time where it matters most: your family.
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