Lenten Challenge Complete

Yep, Lent is officially over as is my Challenge.  I think we did really, really well with cutting out all "non-essential spending."  It was tough though I must admit.  I am not a huge shopping spree kind of gal, but I do like to troll the Target dollar bins or hit up Books-A-Million.

What we discovered was how much "stuff" we actually buying each month because we could.  I know for a fact that there are a few of you who do the same thing.  Don't worry, I won't call you out publicly hahahaha  We all have our vices.

One of my girlfriends asked what we were going to "do" with the extra money now.  I hadn't really thought about that part so this was a good idea.  We donate a lot to Food for the Poor so I thought that would be a great place to give a bit extra.

We have also decided to stick with our Challenge year round.  Do we really need more stuff??

Did you follow along?  How did you do?

Helping my mom

I have been out of town for the past week helping my mother.  It has been challenging to my family back home, but I can't think of anything I would do differently.  This is her 4th surgery in 2 years.  She just lost her husband last summer so she needed some additional help.

The Sandwich Generation refers to Baby Boomers with parents over 70 years old and dependent children.  Well, right now I am feeling like I qualify given my circumstances.  My mother is 65 next month and I have 3 children under 10 at home.  I am actually part of the Baby Bust Generation....the generation between 1965 to 1976. This is the generation that didn't see as many babies being born.  This period of time coinciding with the introduction of the birth control pill.

• There are 76 million baby boomers. On January 1, 2006, the oldest of this group turned 60. By 2014, they will range in age from 50 to 68 years old and either be retired or in the planning stages of retirement.  according to Kathy Quan, R.N, B.S.N., P.H.N. at NetPlaces

What I have discovered, after doing some research on this subject, is how commonplace my situation actually is.  Here's another interesting statistic from NetPlaces:

• Forty-four percent of Americans between the ages of 45 and 56 have aging parents as well as children under the age of 21. In actuality, women are sandwiched more often than men.  

I highlighted and italicized that last sentence because it is extremely important to all of my girlfriends.  I am fortunate in my situation to not have paid employment at the moment.  However, I homeschool the littles so I am not without significant responsibilities.  Thankfully, I have an amazing husband, older daughter, and lots of great friends to fill my void during this time.  The majority of caregivers to ailing parents and in-laws are the women in the family.  

That does not alleviate the guilt though.  Guilt that I have left my husband to handle the household duties, school duties, etc.  Guilt that I have about leaning on my friends so much. Guilt that I am leaving my mother too soon.  Like I said earlier, I wouldn't do it any other way, but that doesn't relieve the conflicting feelings that I am experiencing.

I don't even live in the same state as my mother.  I have to pray that my sisters will step up and care for her after I leave.  Now add "stress" to the "guilt."  It seems my mother doesn't qualify for a visiting nurse since she doesn't meet some requirement that her insurance company needs her to have.  I have already re-booked my ticket and now hesitate since I am afraid she will be alone most of the time.  I miss my littles terribly.  My husband's job is our income so I need to get home so he can do his job properly.  Oh what to do, what to do???