Sibling rivalry is a type of competition or animosity among children, blood-related or not.

Siblings generally spend more time together during childhood than they do with parents. The sibling bond is often complicated and is influenced by factors such as parental treatment, birth order, personality, and people and experiences outside the family.

The above definition from Wikipedia pertains in many cases to the differing view points of children as to how to best care for their aging parents. I have had the honor to work with many families who have struggled through the process of helping parents transition from single family home living to a senior apartment or community. In the end, the majority of the siblings I work with have one goal and that is to make sure their parents or parent is safe and secure with the best quality of life. As in the above definition of sibling rivalry, there are complicated connections to brother and sister, and in those relationships confusion and sometimes disagreements may occur when trying to help mom and dad.

So many decisions have to be made when a home is no longer working for the older adult. Many of my seniors choose not to (more…)