Help for the Sandwiched Caregivers

We welcome Kaye Swain from SandwichINK.com - Information and Encouragement for The Sandwich Generation and Other Multi-Generational Caregivers

How did you get started?
I actually started planning a website over four years ago. I was researching blogging, and designing the site when my dad, who had Parkinson’s Disease, had a setback. At the same time, two of my daughters got pregnant, one with complications. So the plans got put on the backburner as I helped my mom with my dad, helped my daughters, and enjoyed the booming blessings of all my adorable grandchildren, including one set of twins, one who was adopted, three with special needs, and all such wonderful gifts from God! Definitely keeps us all busy! One very nice thing about the delay in getting started is that the software for blogging has gotten so much easier, it’s wonderful! And there are so many great new tools, including Twitter, Delicious, Stumbleupon, and so much more.

I know the sandwich generation is a big topic these days since a lot of women put off having children till later in life. I remember my good friend in California had her first baby at age 46 (believe it or not!!) - she and her toddler would take her dad (age 79) to the doctor for weekly visits due to cancer treatments. So, I know this is big. Another friend/colleague (at work) has 2 children ages 10 & 13 - plus a mom, disabled from stroke, living with her family too. She would arrive late to work crying and have to leave early again.. every day. It was traumatic for her and very stressful.

It can definitely be challenging! Not only that, the Sandwich Generation is broader than just the moms who waited to have children, or the Baby Boomers. I was talking to a friend this week whose dad was just diagnosed with cancer. She will be helping her mom care for him, while taking care of her own special needs children, and she’s barely 30! When I was only 25 with one child, I was helping my mother care for my grandparents while she was at work, and my grandfather was in the hospital. Really, the Sandwich Generation can impact a wide range of ages and needs.

At the same time, there are so many blessings associated with it as well. I have many warm and wonderful memories of special times together with both sets of grandparents and my parents that I wouldn’t have if we hadn’t been bonded together during difficult seasons of life. My mom now lives with me and is such a blessing and encouragement to me. I love that I am also able to come alongside my whole family in different ways to bless them and that I am able to help to continue to share a wonderful heritage of God’s love, joy, and salvation with my grandchildren that was started by my great-grandparents.

What is INK in the SandwichINK.com?
The INK reflects the writing I do regarding the Sandwich Generation, as well as my being a member of the Sandwich Generation and being a writer.

What do you hope to accomplish with your blog?
My goal is to encourage others, as well as myself, by providing resources, information, ideas, and links in a wide variety of areas that encompass all that we deal with. There are many sites dedicated to caregivers and many sites dedicated to grandparents/parents. I wanted to provide a site that reaches both these needs in a positive, uplifting way.

How do your members find you?
My website is at http://www.SandwichINK.com

I am on Twitter at http://www.Twitter.com/SandwichINK