Hai had heard the term “sandwich generation” and now he really understands what it means. With teenagers at home, his evenings and weekends are spent driving them to practices, games and music lessons. Hai had come to Canada as an international student and about 5 years ago he sponsored his parents to move here as well. A couple of months ago, Hai’s mom broke her hip in a fall. His dad is too frail to care for her on his own, so Hai stops by daily to help out and runs errands for them. He also needs to take them to appointments as he is their only translator.

There had been a time at university when Hai was overwhelmed and had seen a counsellor. Back then he had learned about self-advocacy, the importance of creating a manageable schedule and how to delegate what he didn’t absolutely have to do himself. Hai recognizes some early indicators that he is getting overwhelmed again, so he begins by taking stock of his responsibilities. The list, when he’s finished writing it, is three pages long. No wonder he feels overwhelmed! Hai identifies things on his list that only he can do; he then crosses out a few things that don’t really need to be done right now. He has a family meeting to discuss how to divide up the rest of the responsibilities a bit more reasonably and to explore what other supports they could put into place until his mom recovers.