Recently I have been participating a game where how thrifty we have been spending with what we have, especially during the post "shelter in place" or "movement control order" (a.k.a lock-down) just to stimulate the economy again.

If there are any readers who have been reading my sharings the last 3 years would have known I have always been striving towards the idea of spending with wisdom; although there were times that I didn't do that, but it becomes a good sharing here in my #triedntested series throughout the years.

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And this time through this challenge, how many of us actually do spend to ease and improve conveniences for our family, particularly the elderly in our homes?

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Most of the time we know when young families are formed, parents will always do whatever it takes to ease their conveniences and protect their young; from baby-proofing every corner to creating child-proof environment for easy upkeep.

But how many would actually do when they have elderly at home?

The last 36 months I have had the privilege to welcome my aging parents to my new home ever since I got my keys to my little crib, particularly when they actually need to do their hospital runs in the capital city for more chronic challenges.

And at the same time, I start to notice their vulnerabilities and need of assistance through time as the days go by.

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If you haven't known much due to my lack of engagement here you can check out @philiprenelee 's sharings during a few hospital trip emergencies and also my dad's operation journey to remove his cancerous prostate gland

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So, how far would I "elderly proof" my place?

It still have a long way to go, but these are the few things that I need to prepare as I start to notice my once superheroes are starting to have memory laps in between...

Thus labeling important things that they might use is becoming a norm in my home.

The good part is that my parents can still read; and even if their vision is lesser, being a caretaker with a full time job is not easy. Even I find myself forgetting things I put and labeling helps me discipline myself from not placing things at the wrong place.

(this is particularly useful for kids, and so now it applies to elderly too)

Another great thing when I got my (2nd hand) place is that I was blessed with this white tiled wall that was already renovated by the previous owner; now turned to another aid of reminders for forgetful minds in the family. As a person who still serves occasionally in the ministry, the wall has turned into a "white board" to remember things; including something that can boost my spirit up.

Back to practicality...

Due to the place I am staying can be expensive when it comes to electric bills, and my mom's sensitivity to light due to weaken cornea where florescent light at night can be too much for her, I started testing motion sensor lights for both my parents when they need to seek the loo in the middle of the night due to aging bladders; and not needing to look for the light switch that eventually hurt their eyes in the middle of the night when they woke up for water / toilet breaks, the sensor lights became very handy.

I got one at my old place when my rental staircase lights kept tripping the whole house due to bad wiring, I had one sensor light that was very useful when power out happened.

So I decided to invest a little more for the bathroom so that when my parents or myself need to visit the loo, we are not worried in searching for switches or worrying that we might trip onto something (bathrooms have small curbs for water retaining from spilling into other rooms) that can be very dangerous for the elderly.

OF COURSE, because these are motion sensors, batteries are needed, and investing on good rechargeable batteries come in very handy that serves a long run.

These are just the beginnings of house and space management I have started while changing my lifestyle; and I am pretty sure there will be even more changes later when I try to readjust other things for my parents.

How about you?

Do you have elderly in your home who have health challenges that might need some change of the household to assist their movement?

Feel free to share it here in the comments, you'll never know we can all pick up a pointer or two sharing information to make live easier for our family members.

Until then

Thank You for Your Time

Time sure flies! I am "3 years old" now! haha

1% of this post goes to null in the support of keeping HIVE alive