Older parents can be as devastating as Hurricane Katrina. They are physically demanding, emotionally draining and psychologically dangerous. As much as we love our parents (or grandparents for that matter), there comes a time when roles switch and you need to become the carer.
In this situation you may find that your parent is becoming contentious, stubborn, difficult to communicate with, etc. When my mother started showing these signs, I knew immediately that I would need help. A good friend recommended “Coping with Your Difficult Older Parent: A Guide for Stressed out Children” and I gratefully bought it. The book showed me techniques to use, had little role-plays to help me prepare for the various situations that we might find ourselves in. It helps with specific words and phrases that you should and should not use, as well as helping identify the triggers to stress which cause arguments and frustration.
I’ve started using the book in a practical fashion and some changes are already evident. Just keep in mind that you have to take baby steps and have a lot of patience. Do not expect overnight changes. Keeping those points in mind, this book is a great guide and a must-have for all stressed out children taking care of their parents.
Social networking has become an important part of everyday life to many adults. It has also won popularity with children of all ages. Although Facebook restricts sign up to 13 years or older, they cannot police the site, nor can they check the kids legal ages. This opens the door for many potential problems.
Parents have expressed concern over who their kids ‘friend’ with on their Facebook page. If the parents aren’t ‘friends’ themselves there is no way of determining whether a ‘friend’ is appropriate or not. It is also very difficult to monitor the conversations that the kids are having with their ‘friends’.
Many parents like me are concerned about our children being targeted by unsavoury characters such as paedophiles and their lives being endangered by having encounters with such personalities. It has happened that children arrange secret meetings with people – so that the parents can’t interfere – and end up kidnapped, molested or worse. It is therefore not a safe practice to allow your kids uncensored access to sites like Facebook.
If you, as a parent, don’t feel happy about your kid’s participation in Facebook, talk to them and prevent further involvement with the site. Alternative insist that Facebook is only accessed with parental supervision. That way you can monitor who your child is associating with and what they are talking about. Also restrict the amount of time that they can spend on Facebook.
Social networking has its advantages for adults, but needs to be strictly monitored for children.
