Wouldn't it be nice if life as a caregiver was as easy as the TV and radio ads make it out to be?

you should try it as a 54 yr old bearded hilljack . i was treated with scorn and contempt from day one and prethreatened by every female in the system . had there not been a male hospice social worker in a senior position and if not for our male doc things could have gone badly for me .
but -- im an enlightened and fair person . if any of you women wanna pull my transmission and replace my engine rear main seal , id make with a couple of nights of special treatment and even fake about ten orgasms for you ..
im horrible in my dreams too . just awoke from a nap where i was dreaming that someone handed me a newborn baby . i remember thinking " G - D this is an ugly baby but i haveta pretend like it isnt just to keep the peace ..
one of these days im gonna drop the PC crap and just say what im thinking . it aint going to be pretty ..

savinggranny, I know what you mean by those ads. They show a family surrounded by a grown daughter, her husband and her young children hugging Grandma who has come to live with them.... good heavens, that grandmother looks younger than I am.... off on the side out of view they are probably unpacking her golf clubs and bicycle :P

And those ads for an Alzheimer's medicine showing a daughter kissing the forehead of her Dad with a voice over saying something like "he was always there for me, so I will be there for him". Of course Dad appears to be calm and happy. Too bad ads don't show what really can happen.

In my area [Washington DC burbs] we have a ton of print advertisements, mail out postcard advertisements from neighboring States, and local TV ads for retirement villages and memory care facilities.

But the reality ads would be as sad as those poor abused kittens and puppies that want folks to support the SPCA or similar...and who would really want to see that on TV. If they had reality care giver ads, think how depressing they would be and how much less likely some people would sign up for all this fun!

But maybe the reality of care giving would finally get a dialog going in our society about what is happening to our aged, disabled and infirm and how is it we can't help people live with dignity...and help the people who are providing that care get an occasional break or straight answers.

Hi there, I had wished for something different. My husband and I are an upbeat couple in our 40's. My mother stayed with us for 19 looooong months. (We put her in assisted living a year ago.) During the months she was here, I learned that she had become a depressed, miserable, demanding person, and it can be very daunting on someone else. I actually wished for the craziness (I deal better with that). I remember telling my husband that I wished she was more like Maw Maw off of Raising Hope or Arthur off of The King of Queens. I can deal with the spunk and crazy..I have a hard time dealing with the depression and whining.