At Home with Carol Vorderman 2013 - (Page 202)

Seize the day YOUR PARENTS MIGHT BE SPIRALLING TOWARDS OLD AGE FASTER THAN THEY’D LIKE, BUT YOU CAN HELP MAKE THEIR LIVES EASIER WITH SMART LIFESTYLE CHOICES Long gone are the days where generations lived together in 202 | JUNE 2013 LEARN A NEW SKILL One of the positives of getting older has to be having time on your hands. While this could translate into boredom, it could also be made into a positive. What has your mum always wanted to do but never got around to? What happened to dad’s plans to learn how to speak Italian? Learning a new skill is fun, gives a great sense of purpose and provides something interesting to talk about other than what happened on Coronation Street. It also keeps the old cogs turning, to boot. JOIN A GROUP These days, the young ‘uns are all about book groups, which mostly involve wine and gossip. There’s no reason they can’t be for the oldies, too. Encourage your parents to get a group of neighbours together, choose a book, and have a good old weekly chinwag over tea or wine and cake. If they’re not readers, tell them to start something else – a weekly walking club, cinema trips, or regular wine-tasting nights. {{ GET HELP extended families – most people don’t have the space or the lifestyles to accommodate this any more. Still, that doesn’t mean that the elderly need to be sent off to residential homes. Even if it’s someone coming in each day just to have a chat, or to clean the house and do some shopping, it’ll lighten the load and provide a friendly face to chat to. Obviously, the downside of this is cost, but charities such as Age UK (www.ageuk.org.uk) can often provide this free of charge. If your parents need to pay for a carer, contact your local social services department to ﬁnd approved agencies, and check with the UK Homecare Association (www.ukhca.co.uk) to make sure that they’re following a code of practice. CHILD’S PLAY Spending time with their grandchildren will help your parents feel young and keep their brains active KEEP ON MOVING Adults over 65 spend an average of 10 hours each day sitting down, but if they want to stay healthy and independent, it’s important they remain active. Encourage your parents to aim for two and a half hours a week of moderate exercise, which could be walking fast, riding a bicycle, or gardening. Equally, it could be made in to a group activity. WORDS: Anya Hunter | PHOTOGRAPHS: Getty Images T hese days, rather a lot of people are living for a long old time – the average life expectancy in the UK is now 80 years old. And as such, the generation below, that’s you, is repaying the debts of childhood as the tables turn and you become the ones doing the caring. Carol Vorderman has always been super close to her mum, Jean, 85, and the pair have long looked after each other – in fact, Carol says she has been known to treat her mother like a teenager. ‘She always goes to get her hair done on a Saturday morning, and she’ll be back by 12.30pm. One day it got to 3.30pm, then 4.30pm, then 5.30pm, and there was no sign of her. This was the days before mobile phones and when she eventually did get home, I went mental with her. She’d been out for a few sherries with her hairdresser,’ she laughs. Carol still keeps her mum busy. ‘I employed her when I was 25, she helped me bring up the kids and run the ofﬁce. Despite her age she’s still a good PA.’ Advancing age can be a frustration for both parent and child alike, but there are lots of ways that you can help to maintain independence for those in their twilight years and help all concerned to have fulﬁlling lives. http://www.ageuk.org.uk http://www.ukhca.co.uk

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of At Home with Carol Vorderman 2013

Editor's letter
Carol's hello
News
Summer days
Rear of the year
Shades of citrus
Maxi moment
Good for the sole
Razzle dazzle
Swing by the sixties
All shapes and sizes
Steal her look
The swimwear round
A moment with Carol
Beaming with pride
Loose women
Forever friends
What men want
The D word
Fear not
Keep your flirt on
Sex on fire
Culinary classics
Food glorious food
At a pinch
Oiling the meals
Flaming hot
Under the grill
Raise a glass
Water works
Weight-dropping wonders
Tuck in
Home improvements
Holiday hazards
Proceed with caution
Warning signs
Down to the bare bones
Back on track
A sorry sight
20 under £20
How do they do it?
Rewind time
Lacklustre locks?
Pearly brights
Good job hunting
Old timers
The golden years
Cash in a flash
Money guru
Foster the love
Child's play
Easy as 1, 2, 3?
Summertime accessories
Those in glass houses
On the tiles
Home safe home
Savvy traveller
Holiday honcho
Port of call
Here come the girls
It's a numbers game
Book it in
Up, up and away!
Last word

At Home with Carol Vorderman 2013