Tips for Tough Conversations with Aging Parents

Jan 9, 2026

A rather lovely human (you know who you are!) sent me the article 5 Tips for Tough Conversations with Aging Parents from her local news. The advice from Karen Halpert, MD is practical not just for the required discussions with Mom and Dad but can also be applied to almost any situation where you need to tread lightly yet get to a needed place. The synopsis includes:

  1. Start early

  2. Be present in your parents’ lives

  3. Know there will be multiple conversations

  4. Talk to your parents’ doctors

  5. Have compassion and patience

We’ve covered many of these themes in these posts, including it being a process that should be curated and managed over months and years, that you have to put in the work, and it’s OK to ask for help in order to show up with grace. Nota Bene: Dr Halpert is focused on the paperwork and planning, not the dollar amounts or who should get what.

One item I found surprising, though, was #2. I have been taking that assumption for granted, frankly, based on the very human response of listening to voices you know, love, and trust. I fully realize that everyone has their own, sometimes complicated, relationship with Mom and Dad, but I figured this was a given. It’s good to be explicit, though, and this is something we can all recognize.

Curious, do you plan on having these conversations with your aging parents this year? When? If not, why not? What about your own children? How are you bringing them along now so we are not repeating a cycle?

We are a Sandwich Generation, and we are the Adults in the room, at least in part if not in whole. Is that hard? Sure, welcome to life. Do we need to be Adults? No one can make you, but see how it goes for you or your children if not. Now is the time to move our families forward, and it starts with honest, productive, and compassionate conversations…