Rent a who?!?

Deep breath. Deeeeep breath.

The past week was horribly hectic. My mother was ill and it was a constant rush from bedroom to bathroom.

After things settled down, and she was much better, I began to think about the business of caregiving, how costly it must be. The need to have someone looking after the aged parent while the adult children get some rest cannot be emphasised enough! The convenience of having a carer come to the home, the comfort it offers the elder parent to be looked after in his or her own home, is immense.

To work as a caregiver, whether on your own or through an agency, you have to be certified. I've spoken to individuals who work on their own and, depending on the mental and emotional fortitude of the caregiver, it's either a difficult way to earn, or it's easy.

Want to think even bigger? How about starting a home where the elders are taken care of? This is not something I'd take on gladly, or with ease, but there are people who, with excellent business sense, can make it happen.

Not all elders need intense care though, and some are even willing to work!

I was joking about it to someone, telling her that I should rent my mother as a grandma. I saw this idea online, where grandmas are hired as carers, babysitters, nannies, chefs, storytellers. 

Don't underestimate the power of grandmas! When my last nephew was a child, my mother would sit with him, her youngest grandson, and hold lengthy discussions about the stars, the heavens, the universe. They had conversations about spirituality. He was only four or five years old then. She taught him simple gardening and to this day he, a young teen, adores plants. She also quoted poetry to him and told him stories. His favourite tale was about King Bruce and the spider.

The story goes like this...King Bruce was fighting a war that he felt he was losing. He sat in a cave and rested. There, as he pondered his fate in despair, he saw a spider trying to climb up a string of web. The spider kept tumbling down but it did not quit. Eventually, it managed to haul itself up and crawl away across the roof of the cave.

King Bruce was astonished. Impressed. If the spider could do it, rise up and never give up, why couldn't he, the king?

Armed with renewed determination, King Bruce ventured out, fought his war and won.

See what grandmas can teach…can do?

Maybe there's something in it after all, in renting grandmas. What do you think?

Hey, you never know. The possibilities are endless!

P.S. If you need other ideas for small businesses, see the Money list.