Helping.Mom
Army Vet goes home to care for mom.
Terry closed his restaurant in Texas to care for his elderly mom on their family farm in Indiana. What happened next, no one could have predicted. In this "Helping Mom" podcast, Terry gives fellow caregivers real-world tips and straight-talk motivation to love & serve those who loved & served us--our parents!
You can find his fast-read book "Beginnings" on Amazon Kindle & Softback.
Terry is disabled Army Veteran, with 4 university degrees, and proud Dad to 5 daughters. He has taught university in Europe, Asia & Africa. He completed Harvard University Faith & Leadership program. His work includes Soldier, attorney, champion basketball coach, and Fortune 500. His restaurant was 2-X Best of Region.
Terry is medical guardian to his mom, Sherry, and full-time caregiver to her brother, Uncle Perry, who also lives on their family farm. For his own therapy Terry raises pure AKC White German Shepherd pups for military veterans & other great families, thru his non-profit PatriotPups.org WOOF!
Terry welcomes your emails of your experiences, stories, tips and ideas, in addition to prayer requests, at Info@helping.mom
Helping.Mom
Why are we Crappy Listeners as Caregivers?
Contact Helping.Mom (we don’t spam)
What makes us crappy listeners? God gave us 2 ears & 1 mouth,, that we would listen 2X more than we talk. So what went wrong?
The thing we need the most of, we do the least.
Broadly speaking sociolinguists identify 3 broad barriers to effective listening:
Internal barriers—daydreaming, ignorance, hearing problems, tired, ADD, jumping to conclusions, personal attacks, listening to speak instead of listening to receive.
External barriers-noise to signal ratio,, context unclear, social pressures, language misunderstandings, Complexity of situation, Emotionalism, noises, TV blaring, time limits
Stereotyping & Bias. 52 to be specific. Most important—confirmation, anchor, Golden Boy, social conformism
So what causes ME to be a crappy listener for my mom?
1) Whack-a-Mole mentality of always solving problems
2) Assuming
3) Anger/Fear—Fear/Anger
4) Unresolved family conflict. Member tension
5) Lack of plan. So much of caregiving seems like planlessness
6) Performance anxiety/perfectionism
The beginning and end of caregiving is listening. So why don’t we? I’m sorry, what did you say??!
