As we wrap up the old and start the new I want to say a special thanks to all the AgeWiseLiving™ Affiliates for making the launch of The Ultimate Caregiver's Success System so successful. With your help, we not only met but exceeded our expectations.

I especially want to spotlight our Top 3 Affiliates for helping people get their eldercare issues under control:
  1. Terry Martin
  2. J.D. Williams
  3. Bill Allen

(BTW - the AgeWiseLiving Affiliate program continues so there's still time to sign up.)

As we start off a new year, I'm going back to the issues you surfaced in the questionnaire and the most frequently asked question is a perfect place to start so please read on.

Have a great week and carpe annum!

PS> Are you on Facebook or Twitter? If so, I'd love to have you 'friend' me and AgeWiseLiving. That way you can get the latest news and have lots to share with your followers about AgeWiseLiving, the AgeWiseLiving newsletter, my radio show, etc. A whole new world!

Top 10 Reasons Not to Address Your Eldercare Issues Now

If you found something that told you WHAT to do and HOW to do it so you could resolve your eldercare issues by choice, not crisis . . . you'd buy it . . . right?

Any of these sound familiar? I've heard them all which is why I created "The Ultimate Caregiver's Success System".

With "The Ultimate Caregiver's Success System" you will be able to put these "reasons" to bed once and for all . . . guaranteed!

If you want to begin the New Year right and save yourself time, money, and lots of stress in 2010, please check out "The Ultimate Caregiver's Success System."

PS> Have I mentioned that you can purchase a href="shop-caregiverssuccess.htm" class="type2">"The Ultimate Caregiver's Success System" in 3 installments?

ARTICLE: When Making Decisions For My Parent, How Do I Know What Is The Right Thing To Do?"

As we start off a new year, I'm going back to the issues you surfaced in the questionnaire and the most frequently asked question is a perfect place to start . . . .

"When making decisions for my parent, how do I know what is the right thing to do?"

The first question you will always ask is "What is in the best interest of my aging loved one"?

Great way to figure out what is in the best interest of your loved one is by asking yourself these 2 questions (which are also your goals):

But what do you do when you have several solutions that are equally acceptable?

1. If your elderly parent is involved in the conversation, their preference should be the deciding factor.
2. If they're not a part of the conversation, then look at what was agreed upon with your sibs - which should have been established before getting started.

Some examples:

(See the chapter on working with siblings in "The Ultimate Caregiver's Success System" for lots of other examples).

I've been wishing people a "happy new decade" because it's a dramatic thing to say. It was pointed out to me, however, that 2010 is not the start of a new decade. 2011 is. (Didn't we have this conversation in 1999?) (When I Googled "Is 2010 the start of a new decade", 37,100,000 results came up so there is a lot of discussion and everyone has an opinion!)

I have also spent a lot of time in the past few months trying to decide what I should call this year. Should it be "two thousand ten" or "twenty ten". (This must be a very important decision for me because when I say "a lot", I mean a lot! But then, what do you think about when you're cleaning?) Anyway . . . I have finally decided to use "two thousand ten" when I say it and "twenty ten" when I write it. I've found it is easier to write the correct year that way.

The reason I mention all this (because let's face it, there would need to be a pretty good reason to admit how weird I am!) is that there are often 2 ways to look at something. Some answers are obviously right. Some obviously wrong. Others not so much. The good news is that when you're making an eldercare decision, using these questions will bring the issue into focus and help you come up with the right decision.

And finally, if you are concerned about your aging parent and you don't know how to proceed, I urge you not to wait for a crisis to develop. Please call me toll-free (877) AGE-WISE or email me at Barbara@AgeWiseLiving.com for a complimentary "get acquainted" conversation or use the information in The Ultimate Caregiver's Success System. I don't want you to have to do this alone.