Women - working and other responsibilities

With the increased pressure on women to stay in the workforce until the age of 67 (pensionable age), whether they are in good health or not, means women have less time to spend with their families, that is of course if the families want to have anything to do with them! The other problem is that as they age, they become less "employable" - a conundrum of the highest order.

The pressure is even more intolerable when the 50 and 60 year olds have parents to look after as well as children and grand-children. And this is not so unusual, in this day and age. They are in the centre of a struggle and they are tossed from pillar to post in trying to be the best for everyone in the family. Something has to "give" for these women and it seems they will have far more problem during their growing older years, than just dealing with aging. They'll be worn out physically and emotionally before they even get to the stage of working out what they must do for their own "older" years.

© Rosemary Parry-Brock, "growing older and getting "old" - is it all "down hill"? - some of the anxieties and fears" (now available in a printed booklet - contact the author)

Empowering Older Women - Brochure Number 2

Following our earlier blog, here's the second brochure in the series of 5, dealing with the subject of "empowering older women".

These brochures have been compiled by the Older Womens Network of New South Wales, Australia.

"Empowering Older Women" - Brochures

A few days ago we mentioned an article in the Australian press relative to "empowering older women" and published by the Older Women's Network of New South Wales, Australia. A number of "followers" of our blog contacted us as to where they could obtain copies of the five brochures mentioned.

In response to their enquiries, we attach hereto the first in the set of brochures, and we trust these may give interested women some insight into the empowering of their own lives. Keep tuned for the rest of the set.

A strange 'old' lady

Even though this lady is residing in MY house,
she may at some time appear in yours

Be alert! A very weird thing has happened. A strange old lady has moved into my house. I have no idea who she is, where she came from, or how she got in.

I certainly did not invite her. All I know is that one day she wasn't there, and the next day she was! She is a clever old lady and manages to keep out of sight for the most part, but whenever I pass a mirror, I catch a glimpse of her.

And whenever I look in the mirror to check my appearance, there she is hogging the whole thing, completely obliterating my gorgeous face and body.

This is very rude! I have tried screaming at her, but she just screams back.

The least she could do is offer to pay part of the rent, but no. Every once in a while, I find a dollar bill stuck in a coat pocket, or some loose change under a sofa cushion, but it is not nearly enough. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I think she is stealing money from me.

I go to the ATM and withdraw $100 and a few days later, it's all gone! I certainly don't spend money THAT fast, so I can only conclusion the old lady is pilfering from me. You'd think she would spend some of that money to buy wrinkle cream.

And money isn't the only thing I think she is stealing.

Food seems to disappear at an alarming rate - especially the good stuff like icecream, cookies and candy. She must have a real sweet tooth, but she'd better watch it, because she is really packing on the kilos. I suspect she realises this, and to make herself feel better she is tampering with my bathroom scales to make me think I am putting on weight too.

For an old lady, she is quite childish. She likes to play nasty games, like going into my wardrobe when I'm not home and altering my clothes so they don't fit. And she messes with my files and papers so I can't find anything. This is particularly annoying since I am extremely neat and organised.

She has found other imaginative ways to annoy me. She gets into my mail, newspapers and magazines before I do and blurs the print so I can't read it.

And she has done something really sinister to the volume controls on my TV, radio and telephone. Now, all I hear are mumbles and whispers.

She has done other things - like make my stairs steeper, my vacuum cleaner heavier and all my knobs and faucets harder to turn. She even made my bed higher so that getting into and out of it is a real challenge.

Lately, she has been fooling with my groceries before I put them away, applying glue to the lids, making it almost impossible for me to open the jars.

She has taken the fun out of shopping for clothes. When I try something on, she stands in front the dressing room mirror and monopolises it. She looks totally ridiculous in some of those outfits, plus, she keeps me from seeing how great they look on me.

Just when I thought she couldn't get any meaner, she proved me wrong. She came along when I went to get my picture taken for my driver's license, and just as the camera shutter clicked, she jumped in front of me!

I hope she never finds out where YOU live.

(Sent to us from a friend in Wales, UK)