Christmas Is Here: Our Best Is Good Enough

The decisions that we caregivers of elderly loved ones must make during the Christmas holidays are fraught with opportunities to make mistakes in judgment. Chief among them is how much to include a loved one with dementia in the festivities. Will the Christmas tree bring Mom happy memories of past Christmas pleasures, or will it remind her of the Christmas tree fire in her home when she was a five-year-old child? Will the gathering of loving relatives bring her a feeling of being loved and cared for or will she suffer from horrible anxiety because of all of these people who have become strangers? Is it better to leave Dad, who now lives in memory care to your home for the family gathering or should you let him have a quieter Christmas and visit him in his new home – the memory center? The most frustrating and painful part of this stew of choices is that, in most cases, there is no right answer because we are aiming at a moving target. Depending on where Mom is in her mind…

Continue reading on HealthCentral for reassurance that what you did for the holidays – all the holidays we’ve had and are having – is good enough. More than good enough, it’s stellar. Perfection doesn’t exist, especially in caregiving. So, give yourself credit for handling an impossible situation with as much grace as possible and try to enjoy the season: