I Can Relate

From Lisa Orrell ("Generations Relations Expert" -- nice moniker!) this post about the looming crisis for Gen X (and the Gen (wh)Y after them) that will be caused by caring for their aging and increasingly decrepit parents. My own family is going through a mini-version of this which will, fortunately, have a good outcome it seems. But the fact is that when your parents are getting on in age you end up having to worry about them a lot. And you should probably go to help them a lot too.

And of course, flexible teleworking arrangements can help make this all be less of a burden to your employer.

What if you need to go chill with the 'rents for two weeks after a big surgery or some such? If your employer has a robust telecommuting program in place, you pack up your laptop and work from their house in between making batches of Jello and listening to a lecture about how fat you're getting and how you won't be worth much on the market like that. Or you could take one week a month in their little town, work most of the time, but still be around to make sure they remember taking their vitamins each day but prevent them from OD-ing on the Vitamin A.

The ability to work from wherever you may be is really priceless, and if you make it work for your employees they will surely reward you with loyalty and hard work beyond your wildest dreams.

Or something like that.