Surviving the sandwich years Juggling ageing parents and grown-up children? A therapist answers your dilemmas

Juggling the needs of grown-up children and ageing parents can be a significant challenge

If your teens were tough, and your 20s like an awkward episode of Sex and the

City, you might have expected midlife to be a breeze. But coping with adult children’s struggles while juggling the needs of elderly parents can test us like never before. Instead of shifting down a gear, we may be faced with our offspring’s failure to launch and parents’ declining health. Award-winning relationship therapist James Earl (above) advises on the toughest sandwich-year scenarios.