Tamzin Outhwaite is part of the 'sandwich generation' caught between looking after children who are still living at home, and the needs of ageing parents who might be in need of care themselves.
Many women also juggle this challenging stage of life while dealing with perimenopause and menopause, and it can come fraught with hard decisions to make.
The most emotive decision seems to be whether or not to place elderly parents into care homes when the time comes. Tamzin decided to move her father in with her when he needed extra care, and has spoken about the "wonderful" side of this.
"Dad has been living with us for eight and a half years," the actress tells The Telegraph, explaining that 80-year-old Colin "has survived prostate cancer, lung cancer, skin cancer."
The actress reveals that at the moment, Colin is "going through chemo" and "is not very well at all." She had her dad his own cabin built at her property to bring him close to her family home where she lives with children Flo, 18, and Marnie, 13.
While she dedicates some of her time to "checking he is all right," which includes "bringing back all of his plates and cups as he only has a kitchenette," she also spends time "hanging out with him."
Tamzin enthuses that, "They say multi-generational living helps people to live longer." Reflecting on what is so good about the set-up for her children, she shares, "What is wonderful is the kids would never have spent so much time with their granddad."
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Tamzin lost her mother, Anna Santi, to a sudden heart attack in 2018 at the age of 67. She's been open about the grief she needed to work through after this happened, as well as expressing fears something similar could happen to her.
Earlier this year, when her dad Colin turned 80, Tamzin shared a series of pictures of him to Instagram, sharing joy at her decision to bring him to live in the cabin at her home.
The actress wrote in the caption that she believed living with her and her daughters "has kept him going." She said, "Basically you are still thriving and surviving with a decent amount of joy and fun on a daily basis."
Tamzin added, "We thought we were losing him a few times" while sharing that "having a cabin built in the garden for him to see out his end of life, was one of my better decisions."
She reflected on the times "we kept him safe through covid lockdowns" by having him so close, and how this allowed her children to "chat through windows" and for her to "take him meals."
For the actress, it appears the close relationship her dad has been able to have with his grandchildren is the thing she most values from the setup.
"It has been such a pleasure of mine to watch you and Marnie and Flo form bonds I dreamt about, and I am so proud of all of us for navigating through some difficult times," she penned.
While caring for both children and her dad, Tamzin still makes sure to carve out time for herself.
"The best money I ever spent was a tiny one-person sauna that is in my spare bedroom," she explains, adding that "It’s not flash, but it does the job brilliantly."
She continues, "It’s just a 13-amp plug and doesn’t need a special generator. I have a sauna probably five times a week. I’ll sit in it for anything between 20 and 40 minutes and have a little meditate."
