When we were younger, parenting a baby or two, (or three…), we used our close neighbors, a best friend, and for those who were lucky, parents and family that were close by, to help us with our everyday lives. This included babysitting for 5 min while we picked up the toddler from kindergarten, borrowing some milk (that we only realized we ran out off, after all the shops were closed), and holding our hand at the end of another exhausting day where we tried to do it all and felt we yet again, had profoundly failed. As we got older, it got easier but it still took a “village”, we still needed help with emergency babysitting, (although less so), we got together at the park on Shabbat, and we even managed monthly book clubs, and those of us that had a career, found it easier to climb the success ladder.. The years have flown by and we find ourselves no longer needed by our kids, on a daily basis (apart from behaving as a chauffeur, once in a while). However our parents are starting to need us more and so we begin to use the help of a different sort of “village” which includes our siblings, doctors, nurses and maybe a social worker or two. It’s ok to use the assistance of a “village”. Without it, it would be so much harder to cope. Together with our new “village” we can concentrate on taking care of our parents who had always been there for us, and we can try and give back, and be there for them now. And if our parents ALSO prepared an Enduring Power of Attorney in advance to prepare us for a time when they won’t be capable of making decisions independently, they just made helping THEM, so much easier for US to do, and that, my friends, can make ALL the difference…
The above is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter and is not a substitute for legal consultation. Specific legal advice should be sought in accordance with the particular circumstances.