"I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up" said Peter Pan….

Lisa Cook Bayer, J.D., is President of Life Management Resources, LLC, a private elder care advocacy firm located in northern New Jersey.

Whether you are a teenager, middle-age or a sectagenarian it is just so hard being the kid sometimes! As a teenager you are frustrated because you don’t want to listen to your parents, and as a sixty year-old you are frustrated because your parents refuse to listen to you.

Getting a teenager to listen to his or her parents is an age-old problem that someone will win a noble prize someday if they can figure it out. But, working with your senior parents doesn’t have to be nearly as hard.

There are a multitude of professionals available to assist you and your parents with everything from knowing what and how to get legal documents and financials in order to helping go through the process of selling their family home and moving to a senior community or nursing home. These advocates are expert in managing the various family dynamics that come into play before, during and even after important, and sometimes not so important, decisions are made.

As a starting point, families often make the decision together to hire a care manager to assist with the assessment and coordination of many of these tasks. This neutral third party can help the family identify the tasks at hand and offer substantive strategies and recommendations.

To find a reputable company, the best references often come from other trusted professionals such as lawyers, physicians and financial advisors. You can also check with your local chamber of commerce or visit www.caremanager.org for a directory of care managers in your area.