Caregiving

Mature woman wearing sunglasses and dressed like a hippie

Myths About the Aging ProcessAging at home in America requires changing the way we view the aging process

There can be joy as well as sorrow in caregiving.

Caring for Elderly ParentsWhat a daughter learned about the joys and sorrows of caregiving.

Labrador love: Dog owners, get your people training!

People Training for Dog OwnersDon't be too quick to blame the pooches. Humans need to learn about greeting and hugging dogs. And prevent bites!

Benefits of Being in the Sandwich GenerationPositive points of caring for aging parents and children.

EMPTY NESTFAMILY

Is it Cancer? Waiting for the Results

By: Pamela Cytrynbaum

May 12, 2011

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Impatient in Waiting

A good friend is in that awful but interesting medical purgatory; the time between the Before the Thing Happened and After the Thing Happened. There's a statistically excellent chance she'll get good news Monday and move on with her life. She'll be relieved, probably let herself feel the full terror of the possibilities for a minute or two, call her husband and then get back to work. It will not be cancer. It will be nothing.

But for now, she's floating in the limbo of Waiting.

LOVE & SEXFAMILY

Let's Celebrate a Working Mom’s ‘Good Enough’ Day

By: Pamela Cytrynbaum

May 11, 2011

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I've always loved the idea of The Good Enough Mother. In my determination to make May Mother's Month, here' s my Good Enough Day. I hope you have one, too.

Wake up early. Consider taking the dog for a run by the Lake. Hide under sheets. Roll over on dog.
Daughter eats cheese popcorn for breakfast.

EMPTY NESTFAMILY

Fostering Love Part IV: Kind Strangers Offer $10,000 and Legal Help to Get Bridgette Her New Home

By: Pamela Cytrynbaum

May 9, 2011

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The Fight for a New Home for Bridgette Continues

I am happy to report that people are amazing.

EMPTY NESTFAMILY

Research: Best Mother’s Day Gift a Mom Can Give Herself is Kindness

By: Pamela Cytrynbaum

May 6, 2011

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"Giving ourselves a break and accepting our imperfections may be the first step toward better health."

My favorite studies are the ones that find a slow, brief walk offers exactly the same health benefits as a lung-clutching run. Or that yelling at your kids isn't all that damaging if you apologize.

EMPTY NESTFAMILY

What Mom Really Wants: Witness Protection Mother's Day Getaway

By: Pamela Cytrynbaum

May 5, 2011

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What do we really want for Mother's Day?

Don't get me wrong. We love the flowers and the sweet cards, the half-raw pancakes in bed. We do. But if you asked all of the wrung out, stressed out, freaked out, overbooked, overwhelmed, overworked, sleep-deprived, multitasked-out Mothers I know – what do you really want?

The answer: Time alone.

This week we're all facing this question:

"Hey, what do you really want to do for Mother's Day?" Always followed by: "Breakfast in bed? Flowers? Take the kids somewhere special?

EMPTY NESTFAMILY

Mother’s Days: Grandma’s ‘Me Time’ is a lesson for us all

By: Pamela Cytrynbaum

May 4, 2011

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Mama Time vs. Me Time

In my continued efforts to declare May Mother's Month, I started thinking about what we do for ourselves and what we don't do for ourselves. I err on the side of don't do, and have been wondering how I might do better in that regard. When I think about who I know who is good at taking care of themselves and their needs, I think about my own Mom.

For the most part when I ask my Mom for help with childcare she says sure.

EMPTY NESTFAMILY

Mothering: 10 Tips and Parenting Lessons for the Parent and Child in Us All

By: Pamela Cytrynbaum

April 26, 2011

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No matter who you are or what your life circumstances are or have been, somebody (or many people) mothered you and you mother somebody (or many people). Or fathered. Or parented in some way. It's not the biology, the DNA, the color of the eyes or the color of the skin. It's about being the person or people who do the loving, frustrating, inspiring, reliable, relentless work of parenting and being parented.

We all find ourselves in the role of parent and child. That's the focus of my series of posts collected here.

GRIEFFAMILY

Katie Couric shares 'The Best Advice I Ever Got'

By: Pamela Cytrynbaum

April 25, 2011

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Katie Couric, the CBS News anchor, just released a new book, "The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons From Extraordinary Lives." It's a compilation of essays, comments, poems and thoughts from super famous people sharing the advice that changed their lives.

EMPTY NESTFAMILY

Fostering Love III: Parents fight for a home for their severely disabled – and deeply loved – daughter

By: Pamela Cytrynbaum

April 21, 2011

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This week I am sharing the story of a remarkable family in Maryland. Part I describes Tom and Maryjane Famulari, who took in a severely disabled newborn doctors were convinced would die. The family would have none of that nonsense. Bridgette, whom they adopted in 1990, is now 26 years old.

GRIEFFAMILY

Grief and Healing: 10 paths toward help and hope through the Grief Club

By: Pamela Cytrynbaum

April 20, 2011

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Welcome to the worst club you'll ever be forced to join. If you're grieving, if you've suffered a profound loss, you're in. Grief does not discriminate. You can be any age, race, any socioeconomic class. Broken hearted? You're in.