A community of people actively assisting both aging parents
and newly adult children transition to the next phase of their
lives by preparing themselves for their own best path forward
Welcome to The Generational Navigator!
I’m Violet.
If you’re like me, you’re constantly balancing the needs of two very different generations:
your aging parents
and
your newly adult children
It’s the job often called the “sandwich generation,” and frankly, it can leave you feeling squeezed, exhausted, and absolutely guilty.
This channel is here to help you move past that.
The core theme of The Generational Navigator is simple:
You lead by example.
Put on your oxygen
mask before you
help others
Everything you need to teach or help your parents or adult children with—from budgeting to meal prep to planning a major move—you also need to do for yourself.
So why not start with yourself first?
Our philosophy is effective, simple, and perhaps, surprising: The Oxygen Mask Mindset. It’s the single most powerful tool you have to help everyone else without sacrificing your own future.
You know the airline safety instruction where they say Put your own oxygen mask on before assisting others? This isn’t just a safety rule; it’s the key concept to helping yourself thrive while you are helping those that matter to you the
most.
Here is the truth: Your being prepared for your own needs is their greatest asset.
And the best time to achieve that preparedness is right now.
By getting your own house in order in midlife, you gain immense peace of mind and avoid the crushing stress of having others scramble for you during a crisis.
The reason most people fail to do what they know they should is not a lack of
It’s a lack of systems.
effort.
Midlife is the ideal time to get your life organized because you have the energy, perspective, and time to create solid organizational blueprints—for your life, your home, your finances, and your legacy—and do them right.
It’s all about preparing yourself for the next phase of life, and you can easily adapt that blueprint as a model for both your parents and your adult children.
The budgeting template you perfect now helps your adult child manage their first paycheck and helps your parent adjust to a fixed retirement income.
The system for batch cooking you create to combat your long work hours simultaneously creates a system that can feed an injured or bedridden parent.
The skills are universal.
The Power of Modeling
When you approach your adult children, you’re not lecturing them; you’re modeling success. You’re showing them that becoming an independent adult requires basic future-proofing—things like setting up a simple will, naming beneficiaries, and starting life insurance. You are giving them the framework they will need to apply more intensively later in their own middle age.
And here’s the most profound benefit: Protecting your heirs.
By clearly documenting your wishes, you eliminate the need for your children to make agonizing decisions on your behalf. You prevent the guesswork, you cut through the bureaucratic red tape, and you safeguard against potential family conflict during a time of grief. This is the ultimate, non-negotiable act of love for
those you leave behind.
And when your parents see you do that for your children, they will want to do that for you.
The change in mindset is not only for you
When you speak with your family about these steps you’ve accomplished for your own benefit, the conversation instantly changes. It shifts from you nagging:
‘You really need to do this.
You don’t realize how important it is…’
to:
‘I did this for myself,
this is how it has helped me,
and I learned a successful process that I’d be happy to share with you.’
This approach builds trust. It sets the tone that you have faith in their ability to make their own best decisions. You are providing them with the expertise and the example for them to empower themselves.
That is the essence of The Generational Navigator. Starting with you is not selfish—it is an investment in you that pays forward to your entire family.
Want learn more? Check out our blog posts!
The Generational Navigator 