As your mom's family carer, you struggle to keep up with her needs and housekeeping tasks that can't go ignored. These four tips can help you stay on track with regular household chores.
Do Chores When Your Mom Has Settled
Your mom likes to have breakfast and then watches the morning news. While she's watching the news and is involved in that, do as many chores as possible. Once she's done and wants your attention again, use that time to have things like the washing machine or dishwasher running, as you have to wait for them anyway.
Take your mom for a walk and get lunch on the table. After lunch, your mom may take a nap. That's a good time to move on to chores, like switching the wash load to the dryer and putting away the clean dishes.
Time Errands to Get Them All Done at Once
Your mom needs her prescriptions refilled each month. If she also likes to shop for bulk items once a month at a membership warehouse store, time that trip with the prescription refills. Better, get your mom's prescription transferred to that warehouse store and do it all at once.
Divide Your List
Go over your list of daily housekeeping chores and decide which could be pushed to another day if it absolutely came to that. Prioritizing daily tasks is important for getting through the list of chores each week.
For example, vacuuming can be off for a few days, unless your mom has many pets with fur and dander. If you've been pushing off vacuuming for the past week, it's a higher priority than dusting.
Focus on the tasks that keep your mom's home germ-free. Wiping down counters after preparing meals is important. Sterilizing faucets and wiping down the toilet should be completed. Washing dishes and cleaning pet dishes are other important tasks.
It's okay if you skip making beds each day. You don't have to mop or sweep each day, unless your mom's floors get dirty with pets or when people come inside. Dusting is likely a chore that you only need to complete every couple of weeks.
Ask Others to Help
Do you have siblings or cousins willing to help? Get them involved with weekly chores to have more time with your mom or spend time by yourself for a change. If you don't have other family members to rely on, it's time to address the benefits of home care aides. Have a professional caregiver available.
If you're feeling overwhelmed, arrange for senior home care aides to help. While they clean the home and do the laundry, you can focus on other important tasks like bill paying, medical research, and scheduling appointments and tests. Call a senior home care agency to get started.
