Handling Sibling Criticism During the Holidays

..You’re doing everything you can to help your aging parent(s) maintain a high quality of life. For the most part, you are succeeding, but then the holiday season arrives. This is the time of year when previously uninvolved siblings arrive for a rare family visit. They often come with their advice about how you could handle your time better, do more for Mom and manage Dad’s medications. They’ll dole out their veiled (or not so veiled) criticism of how you are handling your parents’ finances, maintaining the house, assisting with activities of daily living (ADLs), and more.

It’s enough to make a saint swear. Suddenly they are there in the middle of things, acting as if they understand every aspect of your parents’ care, your schedule, and how the house should be run. But where were they when you had to find someone to stay with your sick child at the last minute so you could take Dad to the emergency room? Where were they when you desperately needed a long weekend off from caregiving? Where were they when your car broke down and Mom needed weekly trips to the doctor for blood testing to ensure her medications were working properly?

It seems they were just really busy with work, spouses, kids, extracurricular activities, vacations, and the like. You may be juggling these things yourself in addition to caring for your folks. This is the unfortunate reality,,,

Continue reading on Agingcare to read some tips on handling critical siblings this holiday season:

Minding Our Elders: Caregivers Share Their Personal Stories. “For anyone having to walk the last segments of life with a loved one, read this.” …Delores