Sandwiched Support

Tag: family

  • July 8, 2025

    Don’t Lose That Number

    When you are the advocate and caregiver and making the appointments, attempting to make sure the medical recommendations are followed by the patient at home, you are also likely the person who knows who all of the providers are that examined, treated or operated on your loved one. BUT, can you find the phone numbers of every provider? The correct ones? Trust me, you obviously don’t have a direct line to any provider unless you are extremely well-connected so do you know the office number of each provider, each specialist, each lab, each home health agency, each therapy program, each rehabilitation facility, and on and on and on.

    You need some kind of organized system to keep track of all of these providers and their phone numbers and the other facilities phone numbers. Trust me when I tell you that while some of it is fairly straightforward and easy to search for online, a lot of it (especially anything that began in inpatient) is not easily located with a simple online search. So often I’ve found what I thought was the number and then spent hours calling more numbers given by those who answered the phone when I called the wrong number until I finally get the right person to put the information I want to communicate into their system and then Inevitably comes more waiting while they have to call me back or have someone else call me back. Guess what often happens then? I either have to repeat myself yet again, after already repeating myself multiple times before that, or someone else has to call back Again. This round of medical issues hit the fan in mid-October 2024 and hasn’t quick since (though there are semi-calm moments in between, before the next storm) and I honestly have not had the time to put everything together well in a portable system in one place. I am much more of a pen and paper girl than a user of electronic systems, but they certainly have their place and portability is definitely tally mark for technology on the Pros/Cons list.

    For Mom there have now been two hospital systems that she is being treated by just since she and Dad moved in with my husband and I four years ago, leaving behind the county where she lived most of her life (besides her time in college) to live two hours away. Prior to that there were two hospital systems that treated her, with primary attention from one of them. These hospital systems do not share the same electronic medical record systems and while I am thankful that my husband knows how to “link” the different portals from the different hospital systems, it’s still a pain to try to get information from one hospital system to another. It’s definitely not a game of them playing well together. That’s for sure.

    So sometime last week (or sooner) I was warned that the home health agency of the small hospital system who had been coming to our home for Mom again for several weeks was down to providing PT (first OT did what they could do and then discharged her, then eventually nursing did as well, and then PT was talking about it) and I was told that when PT discharged Mom from home health then the mobile lab would have to go away also. Why? The surgeon at the big hospital wanted Mom’s bloodwork every two weeks to show whether or not she is nutritionally sound for surgery. Surgery is coming up. I took her to our local lab the first time which was a fiasco I wrote about previously because I took the handwritten prescription from the big hospital and handed it in at the lab and the PA or NP from the big hospital who works with their surgical team had never done a handwritten prescription for anything before and she did not include all of the necessary information so we had to call to get her to fax a new one and come back hours later, but we got the bloodwork done. Then before two more weeks past a very warm home healthcare nurse told us at our home that while home healthcare was working with Mom they could get us a mobile lab. I was thrilled because it’s one less thing I have to drive Mom out to and I have very little time available not to mention the fact that Mom’s bone on bone knees make getting in and out of the house and in and out of the car very challenging. The home health nurse said that she could call to get us a new order (yep, even though the outpatient lab we were using was part of the small hospital system AND those home healthcare nurses were from a group from EXACTLY THE SAME hospital system (the small hospital system) there is no way to go in their computer system to find the order faxed to the outpatient lab. No No No, instead we have to get a new order for EXACTLY THE SAME bloodwork as we had taken last week because now the mobile lab (who works for EXACTLY the same hospital system) is now taking the blood. The mobile lab drew Mom’s blood twice I believe and as we anticipated being discharged from home health and losing the mobile lab I talked to that friendly RN case manager who works on an outpatient basis from home and mentioned that I believed this was going to be an issue. She confirmed that a new order would be needed but made it seem easy and encouraged me to call her if there was an issue. Well, home health PT discharged my mom two days earlier than expected because Friday was July 4th, essentially ending my mom’s connection to home health on July 2nd. I called that RN case manager right away and left a message, but I haven’t heard from her since (and I did have the right number for her). I assume there is a holiday catch up back up. Anyway, on Monday I called the mobile lab and they said they need a whole new order so take the same blood work (which was ordered to be taken every two weeks and wasn’t “unordered”) from EXACTLY the Same Patient at our home because she is now needing it under “home bound status” rather than as part of services being provided for her from “home health.” I asked if the woman from the mobile lab would call the surgical team who ordered the bloodwork to get a new order. Nope, they don’t do that. My job. Just like everything else.

    I was fed up with being behind with my work and with everything around the house and I am packing for our family vacation with the kids so I asked Mom to call for herself to the outpatient lab in town to make sure they had the previous order for bloodwork which worked just fine before they dangled the shiny carrot of the mobile lab. So since we switched to the mobile lab, now there’s no order at the regular lab. We don’t have home health (so No Moblie Lab for us) and we ALSO can’t just go to the outpatient lab this week like everyone else. The bloodwork was supposed to be taken today and there was no one to take it.

    The number I couldn’t find was the outpatient office of the surgical team for the large hospital. I couldn’t find it easily online either and ended up leaving a message just after 4 PM today when they had just closed for the day asking if Mom still needs the bloodwork anymore and, if so, could they please send updated orders. I left the message on the voicemail of the surgery office that I know was across the hall from the one where Mom was seen, but I can’t find the right number so I am hoping the office where I did leave the message calls me back tomorrow so I can get the number for the correct office and in the meantime the days will tick by past when Mom was supposed to have the bloodwork. Very much hoping that none of this causes the surgery to be postponed. These days I am relating to the phrase “I can’t ‘adult’ anymore” right now.

  • July 7, 2025

    Do We Really Need This Appointment?

    Today I got up early to get my mom to an outpatient office of the big hospital system about 45 minutes out of town to establish care with the big hospital’s GI office. We were referred by the small hospital’s outpatient GI after the PA volleyed us to a physician and the physician had someone call to tell us Mom didn’t need that appointment (funny how that all happened after I questioned a bill following a surgeon nicking my mom, leading to her almost dying, and ending up in the ICU and having a wound vac among other things). I assured them repeatedly at that time that I was not taking any legal action, had not even consulted an attorney, and just wanted them to do something to make it right. Such a long story….but anyway, after a couple of long conversations with staff members about why the small hospital’s outpatient GI office essentially got rid of Mom as a patient (when we were only disputing a bill from the hospital stay following a surgeon’s error and our concerns were regarding some of the actions of the small hospital’s surgical team and not GI), we were referred to the office we went to today.

    And that provider, a nurse practitioner, though warm in demeanor, said almost nothing (absolutely nothing helpful), told us to follow the surgeon’s recommendations after letting me share a lot about Mom’s past surgical experiences at the small hospital and saying very little then also. She did recommend that we schedule with a PA they just hired who is more familiar with nutrition as the questions we were asking today were about options for food variety while Mom treads water on the waves of her ongoing liquid diet.

    As much as that felt like a pointless waste of time, we are hopeful that the next appointment to be scheduled, a meeting with the PA who we hear is nutrition savvy, and one truly never knows when we will need to have GI meds titrated or when there will be unexplained abdominal discomfort along the way. It’s wise to establish care with the offices you may need in the future. It did not feel like that though when we arrived and had to fill out a bunch of forms when we were just at another office (the big hospital’s surgery office) who should really have all of Mom’s info, not to mention that she has been in the big hospital now twice (once for a longer admission) and the other for an extended stay in the ED (out before the second midnight). Why isn’t this stuff in the hospital system’s computers yet? Make it make sense.

    I also spent plenty of time on the phone today because of a debacle with the small hospital system again regarding getting bloodwork every two weeks for the big hospital system. More on that tomorrow. And in addition to that I spent significant time on the phone as well with the small hospital system’s oncology office because Mom’s MRI shows a cyst on her pancreas that they want to keep an eye on. We definitely appreciate that, but all of the write-ups from previous scans, including the recent MRI talk about following up in a year, but suddenly there is full-on communication from this office like it needs to be done immediately, though the diagnosis details and prognosis have not changed a bit. Can we say, too many appointments are open so we need to call everyone who could possibly schedule now? Well, they did say that it’s just all about establishing care.

    Sometimes you end up thankful that you did establish care and you’re not a new patient.

  • July 4, 2025

    Fun Fact About the Founder and Family

    When I think about who is going to decorate for every holiday, I want it to be me. I overdo my kiddos’ themed birthday parties in the most delightful way. I put so much heart and soul into it I do these parties (with TONS of guests) until they turn 10 years old and beyond that we do more reasonable, chill, fun outings with just a few best friends. One of my local besties and I have had an events business (that is currently on pause as she has received a rare diagnosis that, among other things, is zapping her once vibrant energy and because I have needed to be home for my mom much more since October). And I grew up decorating the house for each holiday (some more than others) and have carried that tradition on.

    I shop clearances quite a bit and do so year round (I also shop year round for holiday gifts), but I admittedly am more of a maximalist and find joy in setting everything out for others to enjoy. I will say that I absolutely have price limits for things and will pass 99.9 percent of the time on anything that is priced higher than I want it to be for that item and often hope that I will be back when it’s marked down (or if it’s an online item I occasionally peek back to see if it is marked down, or depending on the app, sometimes they alert me when there’s a price cut) and before it’s done. I definitely miss out on plenty, but always make it all work.

    For my kiddos from birthdays ages 1-4 I have a larger family party that includes great aunts and other important individuals who do not necessarily still have children at home to bring along, plus friends and family with kids, and eventually preschool buddies. We are now past this stage with all four kids. From ages 5-10 we do a big theme party with many of the kiddos we know with a fun theme, plus we do what we call the Grandparent party/Grandparent Dinner where we have a separate favorite theme and get pizza or burgers or subs and have the grandparents over separately along with a great aunt who has been part of things for my lifetime (also long ago we had some great grandparents on my husband’s side in the mix for some of these). I don’t repeat themes, simply because I love to do up something new, but I have compromised a bit when a different child really wants something that’s been done. We just put a different spin on it. Starting at age 11, it’s just the Grandparent Dinner with a theme as involved or as simple as the birthday kid chooses. My oldest wants nothing to do with all of this celebrating (very much like his dad) and for his 14th and 15th birthdays we compromised on the “theme” simply being a color. First blue, then the next year, green. My second son, a big sports fan, has had an NFL dinner, an MLB dinner, and this year our favorite college teams merch will create the 13th birthday vibe. This son will also spend a morning at a trampoline place with a handful of friends on another day and we have plans for some favorite foods and a Marvel movie. Planning an outdoor movie Bash coming up for our son turning 9 soon with Soccer on deck for the Grandparent Party. And our daughter is turning 7 very soon after that and will have a bring a favorite doll, stuffy, or action figure tea party with an Alice in Wonderland vibe. Already gathering (and making) all the fun things for less, making my lists, and checking them twice.

    And today I am family picnic ready (for just my kiddos and all 4 of the grandparents) with my decor. But we will be grabbing made to order subs this time and starting at 2 PM so we can enjoy all the way until we drive to our new firework-watching spot. I have a few go-to things that I cook, but I don’t love to cook. I do some of the holiday food prep, but when I can sub it out or order in, I love to. My husband is very particular about food and has kind of taken on a lot of the weekend meal prep and providing some kitchen support throughout the week. We also spend tons of time using convenience foods which is a story for another day. Enjoying my slower morning and hoping to find some family connection and some more downtime as the day progresses. Mom says she feels up to joining us for some of it and we are grateful for that as we are for every day she is able to remain at home.

  • July 2, 2025

    A Kinder Offer

    My daughter is almost 7 years old (and is currently having a tantrum over the tissue box I gave her for her room that she does not want while I am attempting to write this in the first spare moments I’ve had today) and she asked me a little while ago why she and her oldest brother had to find me her plastic toy tiny house the other day so that he could take a picture of it for my blog. I told her that I wrote the story of what her oldest brother is (and is not) offering to do for my care as I get older and need care and support (See the June 25, 2025 post for that full story).

    At that time she expressed that she understood (and just now told me she loved me and skipped away with the tissue box she picked out from the closet herself) and proceeded to lavish me with all that she plans to do for me in my golden years. Her mommy is going to live in a large house with her and her family. There will be an art room, a relaxation room, and any room I want. She noted that she will build robots to provide me with spa services on demand and, very importantly, expressed that we will have many choices at every dinner (with a family of our size she hears at least one person saying “that’s disgusting” about the dinner we have before us).

    Sold!

    After receiving the precious gift of three amazing sons, I was prepared to go all-in with the “Boy Mom” merch and give up the dream of Also having a daughter when I entered my gender revealing ultrasound while expecting my fourth. I ended up asking the following question about a thousand times to the ultrasound tech who I believe was fairly new as she announced that I was having a GIRL!! “Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure?” What a mountaintop moment! I enjoyed a lot of baby girl shopping that day. Looking forward to moving into that utopia one day. Hope it’s still available when I need it!

  • July 1, 2025

    You’re Worth More Than You Realize

    Of course I’ve struggled with self-worth. Plenty. Something that comes up in every session with my therapist is one of my maladaptive core beliefs that is Not serving me, feeling like I am not Enough. I believe I was chosen to be my children’s mother and that I am just the right mother for them. My faith tells me that I don’t need to be Enough because God goes before me and has redeemed it all. And the women in my life (at least those who I continue to give the most access to me) remind me of my worth all the time. We do that for each other and it’s pretty critical for our sanity.

    But this post is not about anyone’s self-worth. It’s about the role that I play in this family and the role that SO many caregiver-advocates (often women) play. Tonight at another sweet and long overdue extended family gathering, one of Steve’s aunts, who I know well, was chatting with me about a number of topics from family vacation planning/packing tips and tricks to what exactly I am doing for work right now. Well, sadly a campus where I work part time as a contracted counselor is going to be closing and there is a lot up-in-the-air about my options there, and my online job could give me more work, but I am so busy being all I can be for my loved ones who rely on me, I’m just not sure I want to bite off more than I choose to chew. She provided all the active listening and supportive reflection of any great therapy session and when I told her I was not sure if I had the time to commit to a full-time job, at least not one in-person at this time, because of everyone I am responsible for and the many needs going on here. I shared that if I could find a full-time job that I love that is at least partially remote so that I can attend loved one’s appointments with some flexibility, and pays enough so that I can pay someone to come take on some of what I do for everyone around here, then it could work. I then shared that my husband is always telling me that I will not find a job that pays enough to hire someone to do all that I do.

    She responded with every bit of well-meaning intention and said, “Maybe you’re worth more than you realize.” And to be honest, she’s right, my unpaid efforts in serving my family would cost us an incredible amount if we had to pay others to take it on (and it would definitely take others, plural, because there is no way any one person is taking all of this on). And I do realize it and I have seen it studied, researched and written about before, how our society relies heavily on one individual or a couple of individuals to take on care for the elderly and to serve in supportive roles in an infinite number of ways. My parents barely gave any thought to what they would do when they got older and couldn’t do much anymore because my mom sacrificed so much to take care of my grandparents with her sister and my dad’s youngest siblings did a lot (with some help here and there from the older siblings) to serve and care for their dad before he passed away. My dad lost his mother when she was in her early 40s to Cancer while his siblings were young. They just assumed I would take on what was needed and I’m not necessarily saying it is wrong, per se, there is a lot of meaning, value, and purpose in the work, but I will say that it feels less than fair that it’s all not more of a team effort on the part of the family as a whole.

    Steve’s aunt is an amazing, devoted wife and mother of 3 adult children who are all married and she’s an involved grandmother of 7. She was the youngest of 4 siblings who lived the closest, did not work outside of the home at the time, and ended up providing the most care, advocacy, and support to each of her parents as they aged. I know very few details, but my understanding is that she helped support and advocate for her in-laws as well. She has been there and done that, all of it and she is an incredible person. But I can’t help but wonder if there are ways to streamline it all and to not expect the sandwiched to carry every load, but instead to have more systems of support in place, more resources that help available, and fewer family members without a plan for the future that just expect the next generation to figure it out with them when the time comes. Can we do better? Let’s do better, we’re worth it.

  • June 30, 2025

    It Takes a Miracle

    When sandwiched, it tends to take a miracle to get a day off and forget about a date night or getaway weekend with the one you love without moving heaven and earth. If you have kids and aging parents, I’m sure you know.

    If your relationship can withstand the stress of raising kids and advocating for parents all at once, then you’re both likely putting in a lot of effort to be intentional about the things that matter. That is not easy and it is not automatic. If it feels like it is, you’re probably not truly in the thick of it with your kids and parents all at once or you’re the exception.

    There’s plenty of research about relationships out there and I honestly have not had the time to look up what is out the on relationships while sandwiched, but I will say that I am thankful that I am about to celebrate 20 years of marriage and 26 years together overall and not trying to navigate the dating world right now with everything else I have going on.

    But even on a night when my in-laws have the kids with their cousins, we were cleaning up from an extended family gathering and my husband decided it was too late to watch the movie we were planning to watch because he had to work the next day and I had to spend 8 hours with his sister and family in town as we only get to see them twice a year and our kids were ready for some quality cousin time with parents and grandparents. So, in fairness, we were too tired for much. And it was worth it; we’d hosted an epic gathering with many local members of both sides of my husband’s extended family at our generous neighbor’s backyard pool and seeing the kids playing together in bliss, dozens of second cousins who rarely see each other, instantly friends again. Totally worth it. But often there isn’t time, there isn’t energy, and there isn’t much for the kids to do in our absence.

    Sometimes we let screens save the date while our 15 and almost 13 year old put on the movie and watch with the youngest two and we hope for the best with my parents while we escape to our room or, very very rarely (we’re talking once a quarter if that) escape to a restaurant or a movie very close by. Other times we swap dropping off our kids with others while we take their kids another time. My husband’s work took us away as a couple to a sales meeting two years in a row and both dear friends and my in-laws helped, but the packing, the labeling, the lists, and the swapping is all part of it. There are joys in some of it and my mom-in-law and mom friends do Everything possible to make things easier, but it’s just not.

    We spent over an hour today talking about plans for Thursday for our 20th anniversary that wasn’t yet planned. My husband named a special restaurant important to us in the past that had crossed my mind and we were both happy he made the reservation. And we realized our youngest has a birthday party she can attend while we are out and my parents are around for major emergencies, our neighbors are amazing if the worst comes up, and between my 15 year old and almost 13 year old we have a semblance of one pretty active babysitter who can get us through. But we asked a lot of questions about timing, about planning dinner for them ahead, quite frankly about managing our expectations in general.

    We’ll likely get out to dinner, but my husband took off the whole day to consider spending it together and we realized we have swimming lessons to run to, we cannot think of much to do locally during a day out on a Thursday, so the planning continues and tends to feel less fun with every extra planning conversation and effort required.

    I like to tell young parents expecting their first child, “Leave the house at random times carrying as little as possible as often as you can right now, just because you can.” I should also urge them to seize those spontaneous dates while they still can. We may spontaneously date again in retirement, but I don’t imagine it will be the same. Comedies at home are a favorite of ours to laugh together and break the ice of an era that threatens to consume us or maybe already has. There are certainly bright spots of course, but we know all too well that it’s complicated. Not much is just us right now. We would not ultimately trade the ones we love to streamline it, but yet we also sometimes wish we were like the few couples that find a way to make each other a true priority. But there are honestly times where there isn’t time.

  • June 26, 2025

    Drive This

    I drive a big SUV. It’s old, but it can haul all of my kids and more, lots of our stuff, and I am not worried about dragging it through all kinds of conditions or about all kinds of conditions inside.

    Dad and my husband have SUVs as well, just slightly smaller ones.

    Mom has a tiny car and it’s the one she can get into with her bone on bone knees. It’s very painful and almost impossible for her to get into our SUVs so I drive the tiny car to all of her appointments both locally and 45 minutes away at the big hospital. When my husband drove it a couple of weeks ago to pick her up from the hospital he said it drives better than expected. And out on the open highway it does get going.

    But it’s an interesting transition to hop in the tiny car that vibrates while I grip the steering wheel for dear life as it noisily struggles to get up and go. Another first world problem, but, while sandwiched, you may find yourself driving all manner of vehicles you did not choose or expect to be driving to make all the things happen for the ones you are responsible for.

    My husband has driven a moving truck in the past when we needed him to and even backed it into my parents’ mini van long ago. He promised he would never own a mini van (and hasn’t yet), but he will be driving a rented one on our upcoming vacation due to an availability issue with the SUV we wanted as we cannot pick an SUV up in one place and drop it off many miles away where we would like it to. But a mini van, yep, that’s available for that. I was terrified to drive the first big SUV that we bought because my husband was/is anti-minivan and came to love it.

    However, with Mom’s car I have a hate/hate relationship. I am thankful we have something she can get into (silver lining), but that thing locks automatically constantly, it is not a comfortable drive, and it feels like I am the most vulnerable of all while trying to merge (though I will admit it’s a little easier to zip into traffic and into tight parking spaces). There’s no back up sensors and the airbag light is constantly on. And every time I hand the keys to the valet at the big hospital I cringe and refuse to look as they try to adjust the seat to find their way in.

    One day I will only see it in the rearview mirror of my memory and hope I can laugh about it then. And an even greater hope is that the huge SUV keeps humming until we reach the stage of fewer crumbs on the seats and until we have graduated from car seats and sticky floors.

  • June 25, 2025

    “I’m not doing what you did for your parents”

    As my oldest, age 15, of course lives here full-time and has witnessed all manner of unpleasantness hitting the fan over the years with me (his mom) as an only child advocating for her parents’ medical needs, we have had a number of conversations about his plans for taking care of my husband and I as we age and become more vulnerable. Stay tuned for more on this as I interview my other 3 children.

    As of now, my in-laws have said they want to stay in their home for as long as humanly possible (and despite past health scares they are in their 60s and going strong in their new home on their farm) and then they say they want to be put in a nursing home and as far as I know that is what my husband and sister-in-law have planned. She lives in another state and won’t be able to provide much direct support unless they would move near her and my husband is not overflowing with extra empathy. We definitely will see what their needs are and how it all goes.

    But back to my 15 year old. In the past he has told me that he plans to get me a tiny house on his property where he pays a highly skilled caregiver to take care of me and visits often to check to make sure I am taken care of. I have expressed gratitude, but noted that this is likely an expensive choice and encouraged him to start with a schedule of rotating support from himself and his 3 siblings while his dad and I have more minimal needs and, simply, before more is needed. He admits he will likely have it easier than I do as an only child, but expressed that he plans to work hard for a strong salary and to provide that way. We will certainly be grateful if that happens, but it’s, at minimum, interesting to see him already verbalizing some boundaries around what he does and does not want to be part of. Hopeful that he practices some flexible thinking when it comes to this topic if we have more needs than expected and if, heaven forbid, the money to pay for our care ends up just not being there. Staying hopeful that between the 4 of them we will have a better experience than many? Still getting a sense of nausea when I think about the people who go through ongoing medical issues without a solid support system. What must that be like? May we find a way to advocate for them that truly works!

    So this morning Mr. 15 said “Yeah I’m not gonna be doing all that that you do for your parents” as I took the time to give him some tips for how to talk to adults at businesses that may hire him to work for them. I also encouraged him to write down the name and job title of the person he spoke to on the phone who said they would have the hiring manager call him because they often do not follow through. I also encouraged him to write down (or put in his phone) the date and time of his calls to each business and what they said so he knows how many times he has followed up and can communicate that to them as needed or can just know for himself when to move on from devoting his time, effort, and energy to communicating with a given business. I also said to him that when he is acting as one of my super medical advocates one day he should write down who he talked to, when, what time, and for whom they work and in what role. And his reply is, “I’m not doin’ all that.”

    I always hope I am planting seeds and that his 25 year old self is more open to considering these tips, that his 35 year old self puts some of them into practice, and that his 45 year old self is ready to be in my corner, along with his siblings (who I am trying to raise in this way as well) of course.

    Sometimes I wonder how concerned I should be. But thankfully my sandwiched state is currently serving up plenty more to think about instead.

  • June 24, 2025

    Focus on the Kids

    A friend of mine with 9 amazing children is also sandwiched as her mom-in-law’s needs ebb and flow, and she said the other day that at some point we need to shift focus to the kids. That is resonating with me quite a bit right now as I have my four kiddos home for the summer and Mom, taking it day by day on her liquid diet, is currently half way to the 60 days she needs for her Medicare benefits to re-up. She’s framing beautiful baby pics of her only grands and our house cleaner (who is also an organizational extraordinaire) is hanging them for her all over the suite she shares with my dad. There have been bright spots om the last couple of weeks and it almost seems like the calm before the storm, but I haven’t been focusing in on her as much as my dad is heating the incessant soups and popping straws into the protein drinks and carrying the trays to their room. Home health PT continues to come work with her to help her get stronger and mobile lab is coming by to draw the blood needed to monitor when Mom becomes nutritionally sound for surgery. Just chugging along at the moment.

    The kids are home 24/7 for summer break other than the few partial day camps we can afford. We are deeply blessed by getting to use the pool of someone we know and we are doing hikes (walks with clues at area parks and trails) organized by our library system where we look for posts and do rubbings on a sheet that holds 30 of them. The kids whine a bit, but it’s an activity similar to geocaching that is very much for all ages. We adventure together and I am soaking up the sun with them even on the hottest days or refereeing indoors while I try to work. I am apologizing for the distant background noise on client calls and rushing the dog back in the house ASAP because she needs her summer cut and we are on the waiting list.

    Sometimes you need to focus on the kids…sometimes you need to focus on the dog….sometimes you just hope to find a way to settle into a routine with the top bread remaining stable while you’re responsible for the bottom bread all day, every day. Sometimes you find a little bit of rhythm, a tiny bit of routine, and some sweet spontaneous summer adventures while you’re waiting for other needs and demands on your time to increase, to return.

    Today I focused on the kids and a little work. Tomorrow I take both parents to the neurologist for that yearly check in. Sometimes the kids are safe, but they take a backseat. And all the time right now, we’re in the middle.

  • June 23, 2025

    There’s a meme online that goes like this “1 kid is 1 kid. 2 kids are 5 kids. 3 kids are 9473837 kids, 8 hurricanes, & a donkey.”

    We have 4 kids and many of our friends have 3 kids or more. The quote is truly relatable.

    But on most days, give me someone else’s kids (who know me) to add to my crew, Please, especially during the summer or during any extended break from school. If the children are potty-trained and for the most part eat independently, I’m not doing you a favor, you are doing ME a favor by placing them with my kids and keeping them from fighting with each other. It doesn’t stop the fighting completely, and some of our friends’ kids are also second cousins and/or very familiar to us and so our kids will sometimes argue with them too. But for the most part, someone else’s 1 kid means 1 or more of my kids are happier. Someone else’s 2 kids make 5 kids feel like 2 kids. And someone else’s 3 or more kids bring the very Best kind of party, especially when everyone has a buddy close in age or with similar interests or both!!

    I’ve spent lots of time and energy in the last couple of weeks trying to get friends over with my kids. It’s another job I take on. I also sign them up for the camps I can afford and we organize opportunities for them to connect with other kids, but during these long days with all 4 of them and trying to work part time while managing all things related to my parents’ medical care and most things in the home, I quickly realize that I need to just factor into my day time to drive around and pick up everyone’s kids (with their parents’ permission!). And we booked two weeks away for our family of 6 in July this year….wonder how many kids it will feel like we have then!