Showing Forgiveness in Caregiving

Forgiveness is crucial in life, but especially in a caregiving situation.   Let your gratitude for how much you have been forgiven by God motivate you to show that same forgiveness.   Forgive the loved one you care for when he or she hurts or offends you.  It will happen.  Your loved one is facing major setbacks and frustrations, and those may cause unkind words to flow or inconsiderate actions to surface.  Of course those words and actions sting.

Pray, pray, and pray some more when you are feeling offended.   As you forgive the loved one you’re caring for, commit to act with his or her best interests in mind going forward. Let your thoughts, actions, and words about your loved one reflect that commitment.

Forgive other family members, like siblings, who don’t pitch in to do their fair share of the caregiving work.  This can be more difficult than forgiving your person of care.  I know I have had many moments of disappointment and anger when a sibling or two has not done what I wanted them to do in regards to my parents’ care.  I’ve even been known to send out a scolding email now and then when I was feeling particularly stressed and overwhelmed.  NOT a good idea, trust me!!  Remember, we don’t know what is going on in someone else’s life.  And not all of our siblings will prioritize care for an ailing parent in the same way that we might.  Playing “martyr” doesn’t help.  It might make us feel more important, but it does nothing toward building family relationships.  And it certainly isn’t what God wants us to do.

Forgive doctors who don’t take enough time to answer your questions. Forgive care workers who may fall short on the job.  Remember that their job is a tough one, and most definitely not a well-paying one.  They need our support, prayers, and encouragement.

Forgive yourself for not being able to do everything you’d like to do as a Giver of Care.  You are human.  You will make mistakes with your actions, priorities and much, much more.  If you are praying for God’s grace to get you through this trying time, then He will provide.  God does not want us beating ourselves up.

Regularly ask God to show you both your own shortcomings and who you need to forgive. Then confess your sins, repent, accept God’s forgiveness for yourself, and rely on God’s help to forgive others. In the process, you’ll find that God gives you the grace to develop greater compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and love.

 

            Colossians 3:13:  Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

 

Prayers for Givers of Care

We know that we need God’s help to be the best Giver of Care that our loved ones deserve.  Listed below are some prayers that you may consider using when you can’t find the words you are looking for.  Of course, The Lord’s Prayer is one many of us revert to either out of habit or choice.  The team at Genus™  decided to put together some prayers to help you through the difficult and often overwhelming task of being a Giver of Care.  We know that with a little help, this task can become rewarding and fulfilling.  Perhaps one day you will look back on and thank God for having this special opportunity to bless another one of God’s children by being the hands of feet of Jesus.

 

Short prayers, often called “breath prayers” as they can be said in one breath.  These are helpful when you are in the midst of a task, or in a particularly stressful moment that you need to call upon God for help.  Sometimes, just saying the name of “Jesus” or “Help me Lord” or “Show me the way, God” can get you through a tough moment.  It helps to take a deep breath as you say them.  In this link from Guideposts, there is a short slide show (for those of us who are visually motivated) with meaningful illustrations for some short “breath prayers.

 

Other prayers to consider
God, help me to be flexible and have the ability to go with the flow as I care for ________. I pray that I will not get angry when and if things don’t go as planned. Help me to uncover the humor in these situations and not take life so seriously. But most of all, Lord, I want my Receiver of Care to know he/she is loved. Thank you for your unconditional love and strength.

 

Lord, thank you for allowing me the honor of being your hands and feet today.  Help me to shower your grace and love upon my Receiver of Care today, and every day.  Help me to show him/her your joy and peace.  I don’t always feel peaceful or joyful when being a Giver of Care.  I need you to help me do this please.  I thank you and praise you God.

 

Thank you for the precious gift of laughter, Lord.  Please lift the heavy burdens I feel today and let me lift the spirits of my Receiver of Care. I thank you and praise you, Father, for the unique gifts you have blessed me with and those you have yet to reveal. Continue to use me boldly for your honor and glory.

 

Change my heart, O God, and give me compassion to love others even when they are difficult to love and not able or willing to show appreciation. Please rid me of the negative feelings I have, and help me know in my heart that this IS your purpose for my life right now.  I want to honor you and my Receiver of Care Lord.  Help me to do that with grace and dignity.

 

From the Catholic Health Association:

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.
MATTHEW 11:28-30

HEALER OF SOULS AND COMFORTER OF THE WEARY, HELP TO LIGHTEN THE BURDEN OF FAMILIES WHO ARE CARING FOR THEIR SICK LOVED ONES.
Accompany them on their journey and ease their anxiety and fears. Surround them with the love and strength of others, so they may experience the healing presence of the communion of saints. We ask this through the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes and in the name of your Son, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. AMEN.

 

 

If you don’t find what you are looking for here, Amazon has some nice devotional books for Caregivers.  It’s a good idea to start your day out with some sort of devotional to put you into a “God frame of mind”.  I personally read “Jesus Calling” each morning and can usually apply it to my caregiving situation.  I use both the hardcover version and the app version on my phone.  There are many prayer apps available as well.  Let Google be your friend.   God bless you on this journey!  We are praying for you in this caregiving journey!

 

Understanding Dementia, the Ultimate Thief

Understanding dementia and all its complexities cannot be done in one article, or neither by reading an entire book.  Hence is why there are countless people who have dedicated their careers to helping us better understand this debilitating condition.  There are many books out there, and one of the best, and most easy to read books I have found is called “Experiencing Dementia”  by H. Norman Wright.  It is a short, easy to read book and very reasonably priced on Amazon (less than $5.00)

The author has been diagnosed with early stages of dementia after years of being a caregiver for a handicapped son and eventually, his own wife.  After doing his own research, both academically and experientially, he skillfully describes the condition in an easy to understand manner.

Dementia is not a disease in itself; but rather a group of symptoms that result from other sources, or diseases.  It is basically an ‘umbrella term’ used to describe the many symptoms that interfere with normal life functioning.  There are several types of dementia, with Alzheimer’s accounting for somewhere between 60-80% of all cases (over 5 million cases).  The other most common types of dementia are:

  • Vascular Dementia
    • small silent strokes
  • Dementia with Lewy Bodies
    • Abnormal clumps of protein form in the brain causing never cells to degenerate
  • Frontotemporal Dementia
    • The area of the brain responsible for behavior is gradually eroded
  • Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus
    • Used to be called ‘Water on the Brain’ because of buildup of fluid on the brain
  • Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)
    • Change of IQ functioning

What our loved ones with dementia are facing:

  • Memories and abilities that they have worked their entire life to obtain, are being slowly stolen from them
  • Great emotional pain: for both Receivers of Care and Givers of Care
  • Loss of self: one of the greatest losses a person can face
  • Emotional issues and personality changes as a result of the part of the brain responsible for emotions and memory is affected (the amygdala)
  • Sleeplessness due to the brain stem being affected
  • Loss of memory is extremely frightening; our memories give us life!

Dementia is a terrible thief.  It robs people of their memories, abilities, personalities, coping abilities, sleep, and eventually physical functions.  How couldn’t this change a person?  It is so out of their control, we must remember that.  It helps me to put myself in the place of a dementia patient, and try to imagine how I would feel.  Yes, this is a scary exercise.  But if it’s scary just thinking about it, imagine how it is to live with it!  Bone chilling to consider.

One fact is certain.  Regular, consistent, positive visits from family and friends is the biggest source of relief for our loved ones, even if they don’t remember it later.  Imagine how frightened they must feel.  Spreading out visits will help with that.   Using the Community module in the Genus™ app, you can look back over past data and see how you and your care circle are doing with providing consistent contact with your loved one.  You can correlate that to other date  you might be tracking, such as physical mobility and/or mood.  Then using the calendar function, you can easily plan visits so that they don’t overlap too much and are spread out to best benefit the patient.

Using the Moments module, you can take pictures of special people, places and events that will help stimulate positive conversation during your visits.  Using your smart phone during a visit, you can share the photos with your loved one, or just listen to some music.  We have also taken pictures of bible verses images and other inspirational sayings that we use when visiting my mom.  She is always grateful for the wisdom shared and seeing it in writing is different than hearing it from a family member.  More authoritative and less “bossy”.

Yes, dementia is a thief.  But armed with information and tools, we can minimize the damage and provide the best love and support we can for our loved ones.

I Want To Go Home!

If you are caring for emotionally distraught loved one who uses the “I want to go home!”  phrase over and over; then you have probably felt some frustration with how to respond to that.   If your Receiver of Care is in a facility, or another person’s home; then it is understandable why they are saying that phrase repeatedly.  However, what if your Receiver of Care is already home?  How should you respond?  What will calm your loved one down?  What are they really saying?

Maybe the following story, about a young Giver of Care, Anna, will provide some light on the subject:

Anna was a sweet 13 year old girl, who was emotionally distraught over some sad family situations.   Her grandfather was suffering from Alzheimer’s and her parents were in the middle of a very sad divorce.  It was a very lonely and troubling time for Anna.   One night, things seemed more than she could bear.  ‘”Dad…I want to go home… I want to go home.. I want to go home”, she kept repeating, through her broken sobs.

Her Dad, trying to comfort his daughter, asked Anna to explain what she meant.  His heart broke for his daughter, as she answered through her tears, “Back to when everything was okay, when we were traveling, singing, camping, and everything was okay!”

What a profound moment for Anna’s dad.  As he was sitting in his home with his upset daughter, he realized HOME is not necessarily a physical place.  HOME is a safe place.  A time when things were good.  Bingo!

The following morning, Anna’s dad was visiting his father, a patient at an Alzheimer’s memory unit .   The elderly man began his visit as he often did, repetitively saying,  “I want to go home”.  Ordinarily that would lead to a ‘logical, and unproductive attempt’ to reason that this is his new home.  That morning however, armed with a deeper understanding of home, a heartfelt reply came forward.  “Yes, let’s go home Dad.”

They held hands as they walked and talked  about fond memories: when his father taught him fishing, when they built a tree house together and even how his father decided to ask his mom for her hand in marriage.  It wasn’t long before the elderly gentleman felt peace and he stopped asking to go home.  When they returned to his apartment within the memory unit he asked, “Is this where I live?  It sure seems nice!”

 Other siblings began using this same approach and over time, this helped him transition to his new and final place of residence at the memory care unit.  Equally valuable, this approach of ‘changing the subject’ led to more meaningful and healing visits for all involved!

 Research confirms, when we are upset, talking about a time when life was more pleasant is therapeutic and triggers a chemical reaction that helps brings a sense of clam.

The take away?  As a caregiver sometimes it’s simply best to accept that “being right” isn’t the answer, i.e. it’s not the time to say, “Dad, enough already .. you are home”.  It may be best to take our loved ones for a walk down memory lane!

The wonderful young woman who inspired this story is the daughter of the developer of Genus.  Anna couldn’t have been kinder to her grandfather when he was suffering with Alzheimer’s and shared many wonderful, and yes, repetitive conversations about his past.

Communicating With Our Receivers of Care

 

If you are involved in caring for an older adult, maybe suffering from Dementia or Alzheimer’s,  or possibly suffering from a physical disability; you already know how difficult communicating with them can sometimes be.   It is understandable that our Receivers of Care can perceive us as ‘bossy’.  It is also understandable that we won’t like that perception one bit!

We didn’t choose to have to tell our loved ones what to do and how to do it.  They certainly did not choose to need care.   It is easy to get frustrated in the whole communication process, ending up in an unnecessary argument.  At the very best, we may meet with passive resistance from our loved ones and that doesn’t help anyone.  At the very worst, an all out war!

This article from Psychology Today provides some excellent tips for communicating with the loved ones we care for.  If you or your loved one are particularly struggling with communication, there is also a book that goes in to greater detail offered in the article.

Finding and Paying For Long Term Care

 

You have found the home-care provider or facility you want to help with the care of your aging loved one, but how does one pay for this?  If your loved one doesn’t have long-term health insurance, things can get expensive very quickly.   This government website answers the many confusing questions involved with the financial end of providing care.

Included in this link is a search engine for finding facility care, home care, and just about anything else you can think of provided in this resource.  The fact that it is not a private industry that receives pay for recommendations is a good way to double check on what’s available to your family to care for your loved one.

 

When Your Loved One Can’t Communicate Clearly

Givers-of-careOne of the most difficult situations to deal with when caring for a loved one with a brain disease such as dementia, is when the patient cannot clearly communicate his/her wants and needs.  Even when we have provided the necessary home-care or nursing care for their safety, we worry how their emotional safety and if their needs are being met.   How can our loved ones communicate needs, interests and desires when they can’t clearly communicate?

The Alzheimer’s Association has some good resources for communicating with Alzheimer’s patients as they progress.  You will want to spend a great deal of time reading from the resources here.

This is Me!

One idea is to create a “This is Me” document for caregivers to have access to when they care for your loved one; either at home or in a facility.  Ideas to include in the document (worded as you speaking for the patient).

  • Name I like to be called.
  • Where I live: The area (not the address) where you live and how long you have lived there.
  • The person(s) who knows me best: This may be a spouse, relative, friend or care-worker.
  • I would like you to know: Include anything you feel is important and will help staff to get to know and care for you, eg I have dementia, I have never been in hospital before, I prefer female caregivers, I am left-handed, I am allergic to…, other languages I can speak.
  • My background, family and friends (home, pets and any treasured possessions): Include place of birth, education, marital status, children, grandchildren, friends and pets. Add religious or cultural considerations.
  • Current and past interests, jobs and places I have lived and visited: Include career history, voluntary experience, clubs and memberships, hobbies, sports or cultural interests, favorite or significant places.
  • The following routines are important to me: What time do you usually get up/go to bed? Do you have a regular nap or enjoy a snack or walk at a particular time in the day? Do you have a hot drink before bed, carry out personal care activities in a particular order or like to watch the evening news?
  • What time do you prefer to have breakfast, lunch, evening meal?
  • Things that may worry or upset me: Include anything you may find troubling, eg family concerns, being apart from a loved one, or physical needs such as being in pain, constipated, thirsty or hungry. List environmental factors that may also make you feel anxious, eg open doors, loud voices or the dark.
  • What makes me feel better if I am anxious or upset: Include things that may help if you become unhappy or distressed, eg comforting words, music or TV. Do you like company and someone sitting and talking with you or do you prefer quiet time alone?
  • My hearing and eyesight: Can you hear well or do you need a hearing aid?
  • How is it best to approach you? Is the use of touch appropriate?
  • Do you wear glasses or need any other vision aids?
  • How we can communicate: How do you usually communicate, eg verbally, using gestures, pointing or a mixture of both? Is the use of touch appropriate?
  • Can you read and write and does writing things down help?
  • How do you indicate pain, discomfort, thirst or hunger? Include anything that may help staff identify your needs.
  • Are you fully mobile or do you need help? Do you need a walking aid? Is your mobility affected by surfaces? Can you use stairs? Can you stand unaided from a sitting position? Do you need handrails? Do you need a special chair or cushion, or do your feet need raising to make you comfortable?
  • What physical activity do you prefer?
  • My sleep: Include usual sleep patterns and bedtime routine. Do you like a light left on or do you find it difficult to find the toilet at night? Do you have a favored position in bed, special mattress or pillow?
  • My personal care: List your usual practices, preferences and level of assistance required in the bath, shower or other. Do you prefer a male or female caregiver? Do you have preferences for brands of soaps, cosmetics, toiletries, continence aids, shaving or teeth cleaning products and dentures? Do you have particular care or styling requirements for your hair?
  • How I take my medication: Do you need help to take medication? Do you prefer to take liquid medication?
  • My eating and drinking: Do you prefer tea or coffee? Do you need help to eat or drink? Can you use cutlery or do you prefer finger foods? Do you need adapted aids such as cutlery or crockery to eat and drink? Does food need to be cut into pieces? Do you wear dentures to eat or do you have swallowing difficulties? What texture of food is required to help – soft or liquid? Do you require thickened fluids? List any special dietary requirements or preferences including being vegetarian, and religious or cultural needs. Include information about your appetite and whether you need help to choose food from a menu.
  • Other notes about me: Include additional details about you that are not listed above and help to show who you are, eg favorite TV programs or places, favorite meals or food you dislike, significant events in your past, expectations and aspirations you have.

 

Millennials As Caregivers

We typically think of family caregivers as women in the Baby Boomer generation, age late 40s to late 50s. But new information from AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving reveals that a full 10 percent of family caregivers are Millennials. That’s 10 million people!

The typical profile of this person is someone who is 27 years old, works part time, and has household income below the national medium.

Why this increase?

One reason is some Baby Boomers need a little help with older loved ones.  And it seems Millennials are actually happy to help.  Of course there are some circumstances where Millennials have had to step up for the care of their own parents.  After all, diseases like early onset Alzheimer’s are being diagnosed more frequently.  But for the most part, Millennials are helping Boomers take care of what is left of the Greatest Generation and perhaps the first wave of Boomers.

Millennials who are supposed to be at a stage of life where they are absorbed in their own careers and families.  Often they are balancing a career, getting advanced degrees, caregiving and raising children, making them some of the youngest to handle sandwich generation stress.   This makes caregiver Millennials a unique group.  Of those 10 million Millennial caregivers, there is an equal split between men and women.  That’s a little different than the typical caregiver demographic, which skews toward women.  But Millennials attitudes toward masculinity have changed and men are more likely to see themselves as nurturers, too.  For additional data on millennial caregivers, see this article.

Technology Millennials Use

The genus™ App is truly something Millennials gratefully grasp onto.  They grew up with technology and embrace the opportunity to use it to provide the best care possible for their loved ones.   With so many Millennials having to work far from where their parents live, having a tool like the genus™ App allows them to fulfill their career goals while attending to family responsibilities.   They are thrilled to have a platform that coordinates outside help, visits, medical information, and valuable resources, all ready to be accessed at the touch of a button.

Emotional Safety for Your Person of Care

When taking care of an aging or chronically ill loved one, we need to be concerned wGivers-of-careith several types of safety:  physical, emotional, financial, and spiritual.  We often do a stellar job of taking care of their physical needs, but what about their emotional needs?

An elderly person needs to feel safe, remain close to other people and believe that his life continues to be meaningful. Meeting his/her emotional needs can help avoid depression. Signs that your aging loved one needs more support may include difficulty in sleeping, a poor appetite or an inability to concentrate.  Emotional care for a senior should include steps designed to deal with vulnerability, loneliness, boredom and isolation.

Using Technology to Help

Here is where the genus™ App can help design these next steps.  When the community of care folks (the people you have in your care community on the App) can easily access visitor information and a common schedule; then all can work together seamlessly to provide visits and activities that allow for regular contact with loved ones.   Here you can easily log visits and phone calls.  It is important for all involved to realize that this is not about who visited Mom the most, but rather how we can all work together, making the most of our busy schedules, to provide Mom with the best emotional support there is:  time with loved ones.  Think about how important Mom will feel when she sees her community of loved ones working to give her the best, together.  I know that my mom has frequently commented to her friends how her children are using “the internet” to schedule visits and activities.  She feels honored that such efforts are being made to provide her with best care possible.

Along with making sure our loved ones get regular social contacts, it’s important to note how they are doing physically as well.  In the Health platform of the Genus App, you can track how the patient feels physically each day as well as tracking their mood and mobility factor.  You can then run medical reports periodically to show the doctor.  It could help the doc adjust medications, change medications, or even remove unnecessary meds.  With various folks inputting the data, the App allows for tracking of data in a meaningful way to share with family members and medical professionals as necessary.  You then can have a complete picture of your loved ones’ physical and emotional health, as they are both tied so closely together.

Some tips to remember:

  • Talk with the older person in your family to identify needs. Listen to individual concerns. Don’t assume all elderly are lonely. Encourage the person to express their feelings and be a good listener–ask questions and don’t be judgmental.
  • Be aware of fears. Due to medical conditions, some people lose independence as they grow older. Some elderly people may fear not being able to take care of themselves.
  • Many older people develop depression. Factors such as illness, death of family members and medications all contribute to depression. Don’t be afraid to ask family member if he or she is feeling depressed. Also look for signs, such as withdrawing from family and friends, mood changes, fatigue and weight loss.
  • Understand the need for purpose in an elderly person’s life. With their children grown and retired from their job, an elderly person may feel they are not needed. Many volunteer agencies are geared especially for senior citizens. For example, Senior Corps utilizes senior volunteers in a variety of jobs. In our community, we have an agency called SOC (Society for Older Citizens) that provides all kinds of services for the elderly.
  • Recognize the need for professional help. Some emotional problems will need to be evaluated by a doctor or a qualified mental health professional. For example, if signs of depression persist for more than two weeks and interfere will daily activities, professional help may be needed.
  • Be aware some emotional problems in the elderly may be caused by side effects from medication and certain medical conditions. A physical may help determine if medical problems are contributing to emotional issues.

 

You May Not Remember, But I Will Never Forget

Givers-of-careSay the title of this article out loud to yourself.   Let that sink in for a moment.  Can you picture yourself silently saying this to your aging parent who struggles to remember the past?  Now picture yourself saying it with a smile in your heart.  You are building new memories that you will have for a lifetime.  Make them count using the power of photos.

This is something I tried to remind myself of often when spending time with my dad during the final stages of his Alzheimer’s and I find myself doing the same as I enjoy time today with my mom.   That cruel disease of Dementia, stealing the memories of our loved ones, can be discouraging.  But if you try to remember that you are building new memories, while leaning on the old memories, you will one day look back and be glad you thought of it this way.  I know I am.

Using the Power of Photos to Build New Memories

One possible way to create new fun memories with your loved one who suffers from memory loss is to use photos to stimulate conversations about the past.   Photographs from the past allow patients to reminisce about pleasant times in their lives. Photographs from the present help patients relate to their current situation. The patient experiencing memory loss is able to “remember or recognize someone they love and know in a world where so many things are now unfamiliar to them.”2 A study by Ellen Mahoney of Boston College found that, in one instance, photos distracted the Alzheimer’s patient from the effects of Alzheimer’s disease.

 

Using the “Moments” platform of the Genus™ App, you and all the other members of your caring community can use a consistent set of photos to work with your aging loved one.  From the app, you can upload the photos you take to a digital photo frame for your loved one to enjoy.  My mother comments almost daily on how much she loves the photos we send to her via our phones to her photo frame.  It makes her feel part of her children’s and grandchildren’s lives to see the photos they send from their various adventures.   Of course she adores the photos we take when we’re with her as well, but she really benefits from seeing “surprise” photos pop up on her frame from her loved ones’ comings and goings.

 

10 Photo Tips for Families Facing Alzheimer’s

Compiled by the Alzheimer’s Association® in partnership with Shutterfly, here are 10 ways you can help lift a person with dementia to reminisce:

  1. Place photos in chronological order.Photo books can be great tools for showing someone’s life history or story. Start your photo book at the beginning of the person’s life and lead up to the present day. Organize the book around key moments and concentrate on happy occasions to assist with engagement. Also, keep the design simple, with one or two pictures per page, so the photos are easy to focus on.
  2. Show relationships. To help spark recognition of family members, dedicate a section to each person. Choose photos that include the person with the family member from different life stages and place them in chronological order.
  3. Select meaningful moments. Be sure to include photos that reflect the person’s meaningful life moments and depict his/her favorite hobbies or activities, such as weddings, graduations and vacations.
  4. Make it an activity.Work with the individual as appropriate to create the book, and share memories and conversation as you put it together.
  5. Engage in conversation.Ask open-ended questions about the people or events in the photo. How were you feeling in that picture? Tell me about your brother. What are some of your favorite childhood stories? Tell me more about this picture. The answers are less important than the conversation and engagement.
  6. Share your own memories.As part of the conversation, share your memories and feelings when looking at the pictures. Answer some of the same questions you’re asking the person with Alzheimer’s.
  7. Connect, don’t correct.This is more about making a connection and sharing memories. Focus on connecting with the person, not correcting them.
  8. Revisit frequently. Take the time to frequently revisit memories using the photos. Do what works best for the individual. It may be daily or weekly, depending on the person.
  9. Mix it up.Don’t discuss the same set of photos week after week. To help keep it fresh and interesting, discuss various parts of the book with different people and events on a regular basis.
  10. Move at a comfortable pace.Follow cues from the individual to gage their interest level and determine how they are reacting to the photos.

 

 

It’s important to monitor your loved one’s reactions to the activity.   If the reaction is joyful or reminiscent, you are on the right track.  There may be times that the photos may somehow agitate him/her, then obviously you will want to redirect.  Like anything we do when dealing with dementia, what works one day, may not necessarily work the next.  One of our many challenges that keeps us on our toes!