What do you feel is the biggest tip or piece of advice for others who have a parent or other loved one living in their home? While I believe books and articles are an amazing resource, some of the best advice I've gotten in life is from others who have been in similar situations.
For me, the best piece of advice that I was given was "pick your battles". This one took me a LONG time to "get". For example, my mom had very set ideas of how certain household chores should be done and would insist her way was the only right way to do it. It drove me crazy to feel like I had to all of a sudden switch to her way of doing things or risk a "head-butting" conversation about it with her. I found myself saying WAY too many times " We've managed to run a household for xxxx years before you moved in, I'm pretty sure we know what we're doing! " But over time, I realized that I had to let the small stuff go and pick/save my battles for the larger issues such as privacy time or money matters. It was hard- at one point I had to write little notes to myself such as "It's JUST dishes", to remind myself to not waste my energy on bickering over the small things.
I would love to hear your tips and advice!
Lisa
