Shakespeare said that old age is a return to childhood; without teeth, without voice… and in the case of Alzheimer’s patients, without memories. But if the elderly have to endure the drawbacks of childhood, shouldn’t they get some of the benefits too?

The Family Caregiver Alliance must have thought so too, because a few times a year they sponsor a weekend sleepover in Alamo California called Camps for Caring. The program provides campers with an experience “of shared meals and stories, of activities creative and expressive, of exercise in the outdoors and of new friends and memories made over the weekend.” But the significance of the experience can go far beyond that.

According to a recent story about Camps for Caring on NPR, although “campers typically don’t remember details of the retreat… the experience significantly lifts their mood.” In fact, “Post-camp surveys of family caregivers indicate that the ‘good feeling’ lingers, and it even can improve daily functioning.”

Beyond being a beneficial experience for the elderly attendees, Camps for Caring provides a much-needed break for overworked caregivers, who often attend to their elderly loved one around the clock, and can quickly find themselves dangerously close to the burnout breaking point.

Out of state residents may find it difficult to take advantage of the Camps for Caring program, but that doesn’t mean that caregivers or their elderly charges must leave themselves at the mercy of the effects of Alzheimer’s. In addition to information about Camps for Caring itself, the NPR article includes some tips from experts that can make dealing with Alzheimer’s easier on everyone. Or you can go to the Family Caregiver Alliance’s Family Care Navigator to find organizations and resources in your area.

We’ve been planning for some new changes in our office. Regina Leoni, our Client Services Specialist, is soon starting law school at Golden Gate University after a year and a half with our firm. I want to thank Regina for her hard work and wish her well in school.

I’d also like to welcome Regina’s replacement, Meghan Talbott, to our practice. Meghan is a bay area native and a San Rafael mom. She has a stellar background and we feel very lucky to have her! She will help our Client Services Director, Kim Locke, coordinate our clients’ estate plans and work with me to guide our clients after the death of a loved one through trust administration or (if it couldn’t be prevented) probate. Welcome Meghan!

I’d like to acknowledge the families who managed to fit attending our Kids Protection Planning Workshops into the balance of their busy lives this past weekend. I imagine there were at least a half dozen other things they’d rather have done besides attending a workshop about estate planning, so the fact that they came says a lot about how much they care for their families. The kids had a blast and many parents were surprised to discover they actually enjoyed themselves! Shanna Walker and Bruce Sadownick had this to say about Sunday’s workshop: “The Workshop was great and very informative. We appreciated the time Thea took to explain any unfamiliar vocabulary! Providing childcare was critical for us. Thank you — it was so appreciated!” Laura Bloch had this to say: “Thea really knows her stuff and she’s someone I trust.”

And the winners of our random drawing for a year’s membership in the California Academy of Sciences are …

Donna Bandelloni and Jerry Gianni! Congratulations, Donna and Jerry!

Our last KPP workshops before a break this summer are scheduled for May 2nd and 3rd. Please help us spread the word so we can educate as many parents as possible about this essential information. For more information and to register, click here.

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In case you missed it, the vernal equinox passed us by late last week. And what I’d like to know is: where did January, February and most of March go? Spring is absolutely my favorite time of year. Before I had 2 young kids and my own law business, I was an avid gardener (you should see my spreadsheets of trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals). I have zero time for gardening now but I still appreciate this time of new life and budding possibilities.

For my fellow nerds (and you know who you are), equinox is derived from Latin and means “equal night.” On the vernal and autumnal equinox, day and night are the same length. Maybe we appreciate it because it’s a model of what we would love to achieve in our lives – the holy grail of perfect balance. I remember reading somewhere long ago that the physical act of balancing (like tightrope walkers do) isn’t static. Rather, it’s a series of constant readjustments. That feels right to me in the context of my life.

Happy Spring and Happy Balancing to You!

Today I’d like to ask for your help. As you probably know, I’m on a mission to help families protect their young children. You can read more about how that came about by reading the archived blog post here. Since forming my firm in 2006, I’ve made a lot of progress in making parents aware of how important Kids Protection Planning is. More and more people are taking the time to make sure their kids never spend even one moment in the hands of anyone the parents wouldn’t want if the unthinkable happened. But there are still far too many people who don’t know how important it is to take steps now to protect their kids no matter what, other people who mistakenly think that estate planning is just for the wealthy, privileged few, and still more people who know all these things but just haven’t gotten around to it yet.

Well, I have a solution, one that’s designed to make it easy to take care of this essential business in an informal, friendly environment: my Kids Protection Planning Workshops where I teach the “7 Easy & Essential Steps To Protect Your Kids and Your Assets.” These workshops are FREE and FREE CHILDCARE is provided so parents can relax and learn while their kids have a great time playing and burning energy. Not only are the workshops NOT dry and boring, people have even said that they are fun and empowering.

The next workshops will be held this coming weekend: one on Saturday, March 21st and another on Sunday, March 22nd at the Little Gym in Sausalito. The workshops are FREE, FREE childcare and refreshments are provided and one lucky family will win a year’s individual membership to the fabulous new California Academy of Sciences! So why wouldn’t anyone come? Click here for more information and to register.

If you love kids, please help me spread the word about this vitally important issue that affects everyone with little ones. If someone you know might benefit from attending, if you are a member of a Mother’s Group or Father’s Group or any other parents’ email discussion group that can announce the workshops, I would sure appreciate you passing this information on to them. I would be truly grateful for your help.

Thank you and have a great St. Patrick’s Day!

Wishing you health, wealth and happiness,
Thea

p.s. Psst, want to know what people are saying about us? Click here to find out.

p.p.s. You and your spouse know estate planning is important but can’t agree who should raise your kids if you can’t? For help, click here to read my recent article on this topic.

Barrett and I have been working hard for the past few weeks to get our kids, Fiona (age 3 1/2) and Rory (age 6 months), to sleep better. Things are improving, but it’s definitely in the category of taking one step backward for every two steps forward. We had one of those nights last night where, when we were doing the “post-mortem” this morning, we couldn’t for the life of us remember exactly what had happened and at what times. Needless to say, Barrett and I are bleary-eyed. At least I didn’t get halfway to my destination today and realize that I was still wearing my bedroom slippers! (Yes, that has happened.) If you have kids, I’m sure you can relate, even if it was a long time ago.

We had a great early St. Paddy’s day dinner at Nana’s house yesterday. Corned beef and cabbage — yum!

Fiona and Rory had a great time playing with Uncle Shane.

On the St. Paddy’s day note, one of our favorite children’s books for obvious and not-so obvious reasons is “Fiona’s Luck” by Teresa Bateman and Kelly Murphy. It’s about how, after the “big folk” in Ireland started draining all the Leprechauns’ luck, the King of the Leprechauns took all the luck in Ireland and locked it up. Enter the potato famine and the girl Fiona who tricks the Leprechaun King into letting the luck back out. At the end, Fiona says:

“Luck’s all well and good, but myself? I’d rather depend on my wits.”

Seems very apropos to the times to me. We can rely solely on hope that things get better in the world or we can take smart action, even on a small scale, to make it so.

I can’t believe that Rory turned six months old last week. I honestly don’t know where the time went. Before Rory was born, I was scared that I couldn’t possibly love anyone as much as Fiona.

Stephen Bearg, my very wise and funny OB, told me that I’d be amazed how my heart could go from infinity to double infinity. He was absolutely right. Rory is a gift and a treasure and I love her with all my heart.
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This is such a fun age (although I feel that way about every age!). She’s giggling and babbling, smiling and rolling over, flirting with people and interacting with toys. She’s sitting up for longer and longer periods of time and it’s fascinating to watch her learn to balance.

I am such a proud mama. Happy Half-Birthday Rory Jane!
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