Time Management

As you can no doubt imagine, taking care of the parents is a full-time obligation. "But Miranda," I hear you saying, "You need to take some time for yourself as well." I couldn't agree more. Let me share with you some of my helpful tips for not losing your free time, and sanity, with parents.

The first thing you must understand is that parents should be placed in a safe environment if you're leaving them without supervision, preferably with some sort of distraction to keep them occupied. You don't want to get involved in a task, only to have to come running because they've had an emergency.

If you're not sure what environment is safe for your parent, here is an example: Mommy likes to go to the sink and play with the soapy water. She gives baths to the cups and plates. I don't understand why she enjoys it so much, but it keeps her occupied almost every day.

Once your parent is safely distracted you have the perfect opportunity to do the things around the house that you really want to do, without parents poking in and bothering you. One thing to keep in mind is that the parents are auditory creatures. If you make too much noise, they cannot help but come and investigate. If you keep quiet, you can enjoy many precious hours of uninterrupted time.