MAINTAINING BATHROOM SAFETY AND INDEPENDENCE ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
We value our privacy in the bathroom more than any other area of our homes. Unfortunately, it’s also the room where injury most easily occurs as we age. Thankfully, a few simple and inexpensive modifications to your bathroom can prevent your risk of falls and other injuries, preserving your independence as long as possible. The most crucial investment you can make in your bathroom is installing grab bars in your shower. Grab bars will help you safely enter and exit the shower and maintain balance under slippery conditions. Fortunately, grab bars don’t require a significant investment or renovation; you can typically purchase and install them for only a few hundred dollars. A shower chair can also prevent a slip and fall while bathing. Sitting while you shower will allow you to relax and take your time without worrying about your
balance. They’re best used with a handheld showerhead to help you reach all areas of your body. Even people without mobility issues find shower chairs handy for tasks like shaving their legs or washing their feet. If you use a shower chair, stick-on grips for the bottom of your tub can help prevent you (or the chair) from slipping as you climb in and out. Falls can also happen outside the shower. Use a low-profile bath mat to avoid tripping, and secure it to the floor with double-sided sticky tape so it doesn’t accidentally slip. Darkness can also pose a problem, so consider adding a nightlight for late-night bathroom visits. Further, using the toilet can become challenging later in life. Mobility issues and arthritis can make it difficult for some people to safely lower and raise themselves from the seat. Fortunately, inexpensive solutions are available. A toilet frame
provides support bars to help you sit down and get up more easily. Raised toilet seats can reduce the distance between sitting and standing, making you less likely to fall. Remember, the best time to make safety modifications to your bathroom is before you start having problems. Too many of us only take action after we’ve had an accident, which can be life-changing. None of these solutions interfere with your current activities, so whenever possible, have them in place before you need them.
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cleats in a very neon orange. I’m sure they glow in the dark. Garish must be the fashion in Brazil.
Bev stepped in and asked the manager where a specific size was. I wonder if size really matters when you are wearing rags. Thank god she can’t read my mind yet.
Brooke is the “futbol” jockey. She has found her place playing sports, and her Brazilian buddies swept her up in the recent World Cup hysteria.
I am confident these “clothes” would be rejected if I took a box of them to the homeless shelter or Goodwill. My granddaughters were delighted with their purchases. I wanted to suggest we go to the St. Vincent de Paul Society store for the rest of our shopping. Bev cut me off with a double-frozen, eye-piercing look before I could say anything. At least by this point, they were talking to me, and those lousy phones were in their pockets.
After we visited Santa Claus with the younger kids, Madison and Brooke were smiling and talking. I don’t want to go overboard, but they seemed to like me. It may have just been the gifts, but there could still be some hope. Bev says there is. They’ll grow out of this, she says. My wise wife guided me out of disaster in my grandpa role. At least the 3- and 7-year-olds think I’m great. It is alright for now if the teenagers think I am just okay.
By the second day of shopping, with Nana Bev’s guidance, they found some adorable items that Grandpa would actually like.
–Christopher J. Grimmond
Madison picked out a very feminine young lady’s dress with a cowboy hat. I was surprised by the hat. Brooke wanted soccer
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