CAREGIVING TLC By Kie Copenhaver CSA, RHIA, SHSS, RCFE www.agingwellpartners.com
counter culture I call it the “counter culture”. It’s a name I came up with when I visited my mother about a year ago and found that her kitchen countertops were becoming cluttered with everything from food items and mail to dog bones and medications. And once I started thinking about it, this is not the first time I have seen this phenomenon. Being a Senior Home Safety Specialist, I have walked through many homes owned and occupied by aging adults. And I have seen the “counter culture” in full swing. Horizontal space is filled – often over filled – with kitchen stuff and then some. Seemingly every horizontal space is being used as storage for something. So, what’s behind this phenomenon of stacking/ cluttering/clogging the kitchen (and other horizontal spaces) counters with everything from soup to nuts? When I asked my mother about it, she explained that she keeps certain things out on the counters so she can immediately see what she has. It’s the solution, at least in part, to the adage of “out of sight, out of mind” – if she puts things in the cupboards and drawers, she may not remember that they are there. When she doesn’t remember that she already has certain items, it leads to more shopping and more stuff to fill the cupboards, drawers and counter tops.
A vicious cycle for certain. Yet I can see the logic in some of it. I too put certain things on my counter tops – in the bathroom and the kitchen – so I remember them. I have some of my medication out on the counter in the kitchen, so I don’t forget to take them in the morning. I have certain ointments, pastes and potions out on the countertop in the bathroom so I remember to apply before bedtime or at the beginning of the day. If I put these items in the cupboards and drawers, which I have done from time to time when I get tired of looking at them, I tend to forget to take them or use them. And with medication specifically, that is not a good thing. And so, they come back out of the cupboard, out of the drawer to sit front and center on my counter tops. In my infinite wisdom (and before asking why the stuff resided on the counters instead of in cupboards and drawers), I promptly began organizing and decluttering my mother’s countertop space. And this went over like a lead balloon. When she got home, she found her counters were clean and organized…but she couldn’t find those things she really wanted or needed. We spent the better part of the afternoon putting things back on the countertop, this time in a more orderly and organized fashion, however. The point is, we all have our “systems” for keeping those things close at hand that are important to us and require our attention. Who am I to tell my mother how to keep her house and where to put her stuff? She’s lived 82 years – 28 of those years without me telling her how to live life, believe it or not. And while I believe there is a fine line between engaging in a “counter culture” way of life and the accumulation of things becoming a hazard to her health and well-being, I should probably leave it up to her. As long as she knows where her medication is and remembers that the bowl of doggie chews on the counter are not for human consumption, I’m happy.
22 WWW.SanDiegoVeteransMagazine.com / February 2024