All of us have parents that sooner or later will need extended care. It might be in the end stages of their lives or it might be while they are still able to live fairly independently. We don’t like to think about those days. We prefer to hold the image of the way they were when we were young: robust, strongly independent, able-bodied and sound of mind.

When the time comes to change their living situation, we are often dismayed, confused and stymied. Even if the relationship is good, we might recoil at the thought of our parents mobbing in with us. Having them around full time, offering criticisms and sometimes rude comments, suffering through their idiosyncrasies, can be more than we want to tackle. There’s a difference between dropping in for a visit, which soon grows burdensome, to living in our house and taking control over what we eat, what we watch on television, where we go and how often we have free time.

Your task is to imagine a situation in which this plays out in a story. Perhaps your protagonist is the daughter of a cranky father. Maybe your protagonist is the cranky father. Something has to be done because dad can no longer live in his house. What options will be considered? How will the daughter react when dad negates them all? What will dad do when he’s presented the various possibilities?

Tension and disagreements will arise. The best way to show this is through dialogue. Readers want to know what has caused the necessity of changing living arrangements. Take readers along when dad visits retirement communities to care homes. Show the emotions as displayed. Give a resolution that might be mutually agreeable, or maybe, if you want to end on a tenuous note, a situation that leaves no one happy.

Have fun with this one.