They have been dubbed "The Sandwich Generation" — caring for young children on the one side and elderly parents on the other, but the phrase doesn't really capture the many ways in which one person can be simultaneously pushed and pulled.
Yesterday, scores of you wrote in to describe your everyday scrambles as a parent. In a guest blog today, Emeliana McEvoy walks us through a single morning — one where she juggles far more than just the needs of her 3-year-old daughter, her 9-year-old son and her at-home business in a small town in Massachusetts.
The ingredients of Emeliana's overloaded sandwich also include her husband's mother, who was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's; her husband's father, who recently broke his ankle, which led to surgery, which led to a infection, which led to months confined to the house; Emeliana's own mother, who recently lost her job; and her father, who recently suffered a minor stroke, and whose own business is shaky, leading him to pay his employees, but no longer take a salary himself.
Emeliana is not her real name. She asked to use a pseudonym because these setbacks and diagnoses are new and raw, and she doesn't want to shine a spotlight on anyone she loves, or make them think they are a burden.
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