Devoid of inspiration for a blog post is how you find me. Life is busy and not in a good way. One of the causes of stress is my poor little mum, who at nearly 89 is finding things too much for her. She's trying to sell her flat, so far with no takers, and also has various health problems - fairly minor compared to those of most 89-year-olds, I'd think, but problems nevertheless. And she constantly foresees calamity, which is a bit wearing for her hearers, ie usually me. And things are happening such as chaps who're supposed to be changing her gas and electricity meters not turning up on three occasions, which means she has to phone up distant call centres and complain. And then at last a chap did turn up today and discovered that she has a gas leak, whereupon he turned off her gas. Another chap is coming tomorrow to fix it, but she expects him to find dry rot, lead pipes, underfloor floods and probably death watch beetle and subsidence as well.
Normalish domestic life, really. But she's too old. She should have moved to a nice simple modern flat years ago. How I wish she had! One old lady doesn't need ten rooms all filled with furniture.
Today I had to:
* go into work late because I had to buy her eye drops
* work a full day, punctuated by many doom-laden phone calls to/from my mum
* come home and collect her to bring her down here to eat since she has no gas to cook on
* take her home again
* go with Mr Life and vote in the election
* go to the supermarket because Daughter 2 and her chap are coming up in a van tomorrow to collect lots of her stuff and Friday is usually a day when the fridge is empty but Daughters 1 and 2, their chaps and my mum will be here for dinner
* put the shopping away
* make up beds for the visitors
* do this blog post - well, ok, maybe I didn't have to do this
* and now I must go and mark.
I trust my bloggy friends are having a more restful life...
Oh, to be a cat.
Lots of sympathy from me, Isabelle, for you, your family and your poor mother. Things certainly get too much for the aged to cope with. You don't need gas leaks etcetera.
ReplyDeleteYou sound as though you are managing everything lovingly and very competently. You are a treasure.
even if i won't be 89 for another 30 years,the answer from THIS bloggy friend is "no, not really" ... cuz it all IS too much for one old lady, innit?!?
ReplyDeletemeow.
I'm sure your aged mum is a dear sweet lady. If you need some perspective, come visit. I'll introduce you to a relative [only by marriage!] of mine, also 89. I guarantee, after ten minutes of listening to articles 95, 96 and 97 in his list of Why I Am Wonderful you'll run home and hug that dear sweet lady!
ReplyDeleteThat does sound like a lot to be going on with. Hope that finding time to share on the blog was helpful in a letting-off-steam way. Good luck with all the chores.
ReplyDeleteSympathy to you and your poor mum - we are suffering horros here too and although one of us is 92 she's not the one having to cope. Thank goodness for daughters. Mine is keeping me sane, and I expect yours do too.
ReplyDeleteI sympathise. Having something similar to cope with, I find life as a Hermit very very attractive.
ReplyDeleteWishing you some peace and contentment and better times to come.
ReplyDeleteOh, your poor mother...and poor you, of course! At 89, my grandmother still lived in her own house and it was not easy for her - yet she refused to leave her home, which I could understand completely. Unfortunately, her house was full of stairs, so living there was quite dangerous for her. It broke my heart to see her leave her home and go to a nursing home, which she hated with fervor. I am very glad that your mother will get to stay with you.
ReplyDelete"It never rains, but it pours" - have you heard that before? I use that phrase when things get too much for me - it feels like everything that might go wrong, DOES go wrong. Also known as Murphy's Law. I sympathise with you!
ReplyDelete