moving your loved one into a nursing home

When Caring Means To Stop Caring: Knowing Your Limitations

15 March 2016

Alisa Mantyla

Taking care of an aging loved one is not a part time gig. You have to be able to work year round, sun up to sundown with no end in sight. Love makes it worth the sacrifice, but love cannot stop the long hours from taking their toll or find a way to pay the bills. If your desire is to take care of your loved one, you need to know that sometimes providing care means stepping out of the way.

Know Your Weaknesses

When you are tasked with taking care of someone you love, your focus tends to be on what the object of your care needs. You give and give, and your only thought if something goes wrong is why you couldn't give more. When you work all day and provide full time care for an ailing individual when you get home, you run a real risk of fatigue. Burning the candle at both ends can take its toll physically, mentally, and emotionally. Letting someone else help might be the only way to avoid disaster.

Avoid the Worst

Few people have the luxury to dedicate all of their time to taking care of a loved one. Work obligations, the needs of other family members, and other time constraints mean that you can't be at a loved one's beck and call all of the time. What happens when you are not there? Rather than risk the worst, there is a time to hand off the torch. 

Trusting

Rather than burdening yourself with the full care of a loved one, there are times when you should trust someone else to provide care. Rather than wear yourself down to the point where you might be in need of care, or risk not being there when your loved one's need you the most, you need to trust them to a nursing home or a convalescent home like Hilltop House. You should still be free to visit and help out as much as possible, but you will also be able to meet the other demands on your time without worry.

As hard as convincing a loved one to go to a home may be, convincing yourself that it is a good idea can be just as hard. When you find that you have to be the one to care for a family member in need, make sure you make the right choice for meeting their needs. 

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