I let my mom drive yesterday for the second time and she actually did pretty well. I felt like a driving school instructor and kept telling her to stay in her lane. She wanted to hug the middle line and I kept saying, "Move over, Move over! You're in the middle of the road!" "Oh," she said and moved a little more to the side of the road. When she turns, she turns the wheel little by little, it was driving me crazy. I said, "Mom, take the wheel and pull or push it all the way around, because otherwise it will take you all day to make one turn." "Oh," she said. We drove into a parking lot and I told her to parallel park in front of the Goodwill store so they can come out and pick up the bag she brought. She had a difficult time doing this, but finally did, almost hitting a woman who was walking in back of her and who she didn't see. First I yelled at my mom, "There's someone in back of you!" "Oh," she said. Then I shouted out the window, "Watch where you're walking, lady!" I know, I know, not my finest moment. But it's better than what I wanted to yell.
Next, we went to her doctor so she could pick up her prescription, then we went to Walgreens to pick up my prescriptions. She had to back up and get closer to the window to reach it, and when the lady put my bag of prescriptions in the drawer, my mom couldn't reach them to get them out. She had to unbuckle, open the door and reach to her very limit, scooting all the way up the seat, to grab the bag. I suggested that next time she put her seat cushion in the seat so she is a little higher up. She can barely see over the steering wheel which makes me a little nervous. She says she sees everything, (except for that minor detail of the woman walking in back of us whom she almost hit.)
But she really wants to drive and become more independent. And I want her to also. Next, we drove into another busy parking lot and she eventually got us safely to a parking spot. When she turns, it's this wide sweep into the other lane, very slowly, and I had to keep telling her to turn in her own lane. I went into Panera for bagels and she went into Publix for a couple things. I got done first and came out to the car and when I saw her coming out of Publix, she had a big smile on her face. She got into the car and said she drove enough today and that I should drive home. She actually thanked me and gave me a kiss for letting her drive. I said, "Well, you'll have to tell dad that you drove, I won't." She said she would, and she did before supper and told him that I was a good teacher. He said, "Well, we'll go out tomorrow and I will be your teacher." Ok folks, I know it's time for me to move back home. I've done what I set out to do and they're both doing much better and my dad is acting like my real dad again.
My dad is irritated with me because I asked him to print out several papers for the bank that I need to fax to them and for some reason he couldn't figure out how to do it. I told him that I would print them off, if he would just sign me on to his computer. Well, I sat at his computer which has at least 100 icons on the desktop and I finally got onto his email. The whole thing is so screwed up that I, being an ex-clerical worker for 35-plus years, could not figure out how to simply print a document. It was the most ridiculously constrewed way to print and I tried and tried but failed to print out simple documents. I said some choice words about his computer and he got real angry with me. His computer is his best friend, and so he was insulted at my comments. So now he's giving me the silent treatment. So I emailed what I needed printed out to a friend at work and she printed them out and is mailing them to me. How ridiculous is that? Anyway, I should get them in 2 days and then I will fax them in. My dad has downloaded more junk on his computer that it's impossible to figure out how to use the most basic components. All power to him. I'll stick with my simple, little laptop....
My mom just rolled her eyes over the whole situation. So, you see - everything is back to normal, or as normal as this household can be. My mom is getting her independence back, my dad is ornery as usual and after watching how I deal with my dad, my mom is finally, in small ways, standing up to him. I don't think my mom needs a referee any longer. They both refuse to move into assisted or independent living, so they will stay in their house as long as they can. Which I do understand. I may not agree with it, but I understand. So really my work here is done. I just need to tie up some loose ends and then I will be moving back to Madison.
In the meantime, though, I am still living with old people and so I will continue with this Blog until I start living with young people. Old people, I'm sure, are much funnier than young people, and since I am getting closer and closer to the "old people" side of the equation, I may have to keep writing under a different title, like "Living with Old People Like Me," or "The Department of Social Security Disability Fiasco and Me." The latter would be good therapy as I plod through this unbelievably complex system.
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