Bum.

[erastes]

Forgot the mains lead for the PC again. *smacks self* I brought EVERYTHING else. The tablet, the usb for the tablet, the lead for the tablet, the spare mouse, the usb for the pc. But not the lead. I shall investigate if the lead for the tablet can be  used – looks like it might…. *investigates* No - that doesn't work. Grr.

Dad keeps taking the dressing off his boil. He is very annoying. I have given up trying to explain to him that he doesn’t need to keep turning the radiators on and off, there’s absolutely no point. I have found that if I don’t stress about silly things, it’s better for both of us. He’s never going to remember about the radiators and stuff like that, and the things he NEEDS to remember, like taking his pills, I can now deal with by phone on the days I’m not here.

He seems to be confident though, recently – a few months ago he would get panicky if I gave him something out of the routine to do, like go to the Chemist, but today he went without batting an eyelid. You might think I’m mean for making an 82 year old man go and do his own stuff like that, but I think that while he CAN do this stuff, he SHOULD do this stuff. I make him do the ordering in restaurants too, because the day I start doing everything for him, he’ll just become a little old man sitting in a corner waiting for someone to do everything. They will probably take his driving licence away this year (as he hit a parked car last year) so I need to keep his confidence as high as possible. I’m dreading his car being gone (I’ll probably take it over, as my car is 10 years old and getting to the end of its life) because he’ll be thinking every day that it’s been stolen. I’ll have to put a big sign on the kitchen window NO THE CAR IS NOT STOLEN – or he’ll be up the police station every five minutes like he was when Aslan died.

I’ve decided to finally get to the Alzheimer’s Society for some moral support if nothing else – they have a monthly meetup in Yarmouth but annoyingly it’s the second Thursday in the month which is tomorrow – and I have a hospital appointment so I can’t go. But I’ll definitely go next month.

A journalist is phoning me today for an interview for some big newspaper in Canada. Eep. Hope it goes better than the last one.

OK – better get writing before the battery runs out.

- - - - -

Comments

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

I think you're right about your dad--no point in diminishing his independent action prematurely. I'm glad you have a group nearby for support. Good luck with the interview!

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Thanks dear - it went really well, I think - he was hugely enthusiastic about the genre, so I hope it will be a lot more positive this time around.

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

Gosh, you think this reporter was someone who has actually READ some of it? What a notion!

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Well, he'd read Frost Fair - but I don't know what else he'd read - probably lots because he said that he loved that it was so much more available than it ever was.

[lexin.livejournal.com]

You might think I’m mean for making an 82 year old man go and do his own stuff like that, but I think that while he CAN do this stuff, he SHOULD do this stuff.

Absolutely right. The Aged P. has a habit of abrogating any area of responsibility that she possibly can. When she was ill a couple of Christmases ago, and took to her bed, she wanted me to telephone an aunt for her, despite the fact that she had a phone right by the bed. It drove me batshit. And she doesn't have the excuse of Alzheimers, the Aged has always been frighteningly on the ball. Think Miss Marple, only frailer.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

my mother was a bit like that, at times - she didn't drive for example - I think it was because she was happy to let Dad be The Man in respects of opening car doors and the like, when she was really in charge all along!

[essayel.livejournal.com]

I second Lee. It's not mean at all.

Good luck with the interview.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Thanks dear - It went really well, actually. There was one question that I really didn't understand - about women reading gay romance because they felt it broke down prejudices but I hope I answered it ok. I just don't get that kind of question. I can't answer why other people read it, just why I do. I'm sure there are as many different reasons as there are writers who write it.

[baritonejeff.livejournal.com]

What you are attempting to do with your dad is precisely what I've been attempting to do with Mary, but nobody will back me up. It's not even remotely mean. It's the kindest thing you can do.

Mary hasn't exhibited any signs of Alzheimers as of yet, for which I'm immensely grateful.

Do contact the society for some support. Dealing with a loved one with Alzheimers is one of the hardest things anybody can do, as you well know.

Bless you, honey, for being such a good and supportive daughter.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

thank you, dear. I realised that I had to stop being impatient, because it meant nothing to him after ten minutes and upset us both for the time it happened, and increased my stress hugely. So if he turns off the radiators, I just turn them on, and if he hides the keys, I use my spares and don't let him know I have them, and so on.

Good luck with Mary, but I feel you are doing the right thing too.

[baritonejeff.livejournal.com]

Thank you, honey.

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's mean either. It's important for people to be as independent as they can.

If you haven't had the interview yet, I'd say don't worry, he's very nice, but you probably already have, haven't you?

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Nod - it nearly all went wrong, Dad's phone battery failed and I couldn't get the phone to pick it up - but thank god for my phone, I could email him and ask him to ring me on the mobile, which he did. Had a great interview, he was really nice, and says he absolutely LOVES Frost Fair, which is rather squee-making. :D

[chris-smith-atr.livejournal.com]

How come your LJ-man now looks evil with a monocle? *awe and wonder*

[erastes.livejournal.com]

They are new! released on Halloween - Beery has a royal marine.

[chris-smith-atr.livejournal.com]

Beery is such a tart (for no reason)

I am going to go and poke with a stick in case I can get a stripper! Or genitals!

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

I am a tart with a feather and an eyepatch :)

[erastes.livejournal.com]

my Dandy is eyeing up your Marine. "I ...say!"

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

I put a feather in my cap and called it Macaroni :)

[chris-smith-atr.livejournal.com]

This sounds like rather a speciality fetish. May I join the club?

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

I suspect you are already the Grand Master.

[crawling-angel.livejournal.com]

*ties cable round your neck*

There. All. Better. ;)

[chris-smith-atr.livejournal.com]

Unsure why hanging E would help, but quite happy to go with it.

[crawling-angel.livejournal.com]

It's Simples! Cuz then E would be of the astral-being variety and would be able to instantly transport back to home to get said cable and then back to Dad's in a flash.

[stevie-carroll.livejournal.com]

I think that while he CAN do this stuff, he SHOULD do this stuff

Most definitely. One of Dad's friends was still motor racing at that age (Dad's last event this year was the week before his 70th birthday), after retiring from running her own pub Nana walked the mile to another pub to work several days a week (it may have been longer, I remember checking she wasn't working that night before ordering lager there when I was 17), and I think one of Mum's neighbours was still riding horses across the land she rented into her 80s (annoyingly she shares what I thought was an unusual name with various better known peers and gardeners, so I found her husband's obit online, but not hers).