Wednesday, March 30, 2021

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Tonight's picture was taken in March of 2003. Mattie was 11 months old. That day we took him to the US Botanical Gardens. Mattie's favorite mode of transportation back then was on Peter's back! My mom snapped a series of photos of us and I think this one is priceless. 

Quote of the day: Strength of mind is exercise, not rest. ~ Alexander Pope

I think caregiving of any kind takes great strength, determination, and the ability to find hope when truly there isn't much to feel good or happy about. Last night I looked at the calendar and could see we had no appointments scheduled for today. I thought that was great because I got up at 7:45am. Which is LATE! I needed the sleep, especially since I am dealing with the never ending head cold. 

I took my time this morning, changed our bed, started the first load of laundry, got myself showered, dressed, and made breakfast. I woke my dad up at around 9:10am. I got him showered and as I was getting him dressed, the door bell rang. Peter answered it but I did not think much about it. Next thing I know Peter is knocking on the bathroom door because he wanted me to know that my dad's physical therapist was here for his appointment! Naturally I BLEW it! I forgot to write down the appointment that was made last week. So I had to quickly get my dad together, down the stairs, and to his appointment. Typically when my dad comes downstairs he has breakfast right away. So any change in the routine is a BIG problem. 

Meanwhile, my mom kept saying to me..... I thought you said no one was coming today. She kept at me, and how I kept it together without screaming is beyond me. YES I made a mistake, I forgot about today's appointment. I am balancing a thousand things, if this is all I screw up on, I should get a gold star. Any case, I did not have breakfast either and as always participated in my dad's physical therapy session. 

After the therapist left, my dad and I had breakfast. As a result of the dementia, my dad eats incredibly fast. My joke is he doesn't even chew his food. He is focused on eating and piles the food into his mouth. At times this is a problem and he can start choking. In any case, after he quickly ate, he said he had to go to the bathroom. So I stopped eating and took him. However, I was too late, as he had a bowel movement, in which I had to clean up him. So the morning in which I thought was going to be slower turned out to be a disaster.  

Meanwhile shortly after the therapist left, both of my parents were out cold. Both of their energy levels are low and I am hoping with spring coming I can some how change this. As I am NOT a big proponent of sleeping. I think sleeping begets sleeping, which may explain why I am always moving. 

While my mom was sleeping, so was my dad. The highlight of my day was getting outside this afternoon with Sunny for a walk. Sunny rescues me on most days, as he forces me to get outside regardless of the weather and move.