I just got back from a week long trip with my entire family. My grandmother, aunt and myself rented a minivan and drove 15 hours to Florida to spend the week on the beach. Grandma was NOT looking forward to this trip at all. She does not like to leave the house and was not looking forward to spending that much time in a car. Because I was looking forward to spending 15 hours stuck in a van with my grandmother, who is complaining about EVERYTHING, my aunt, who has arthritis and sever neck and back pain, and my two small children. For those who can't tell...I am being completely sarcastic. But, we survived.
While we were in Florida we had a pretty good time. Grandma stayed at the house a lot while we all would go run around...shopping, out to eat, etc. She doesn't like to do these things at home, so I figured she wouldn't want to on vacation. Also, I was concerned that she was getting overly tired and wanted to make sure she was given plenty of time to rest. We cooked a lot at home and someone was always popping in and out of the house to check on her. However, she still found plenty to complain about.
It's been about a week since we've been back home and grandma has let all of us know that she was truly neglected on our vacation. This honestly makes me angry. I'm not sure how many of her friends are going on vacations to the beach with their families. Most of her friends I know of are either no longer living or in a nursing home. I just get so aggravated that my family and I try to do something nice for her and she can not even bring herself to appreciate it. This disease makes her feel completely alone and therefore, neglected. Since we've been back I have been working like crazy to get unpacked and everything cleaned and put away from the trip. And getting the house ready for winter. You know, bringing in the plants, swapping our summer clothes for winter clothes in the closets. She has done NOTHING but complain about how messy the house is, how much laundry I do, and how I am not winterizing everything fast enough.
Also, I am having some trouble with her interfering with the children again. I had to raise my voice to her the other day in an attempt to get her attention and let her know I was serious. The boys have been sick the past few days and we have stayed at home. She repeatedly comes and tells me their symptoms and how I am not properly taking care of them. I should have them all bundled up because it is cold in the house and it is no wonder they have bad coughs. I remind her that the house is 76 degrees and is only cold to her because of her poor circulation. Everytime I turn around she is trying to wrap the boys in her blanket and begging them to curl up in the chair with her. She is also interferring when I try to put them to bed. I have gotten out of the shower and she has gone into their rooms and gotten them both out of bed. She also encourages them to run from me and not mind me. She find it entertaining and laughs and cheers them on.
I am currently dealing with keeping her from interfering with the children at meal times. She tries to feed my youngest, who loves to feed himself, and when he doesn't eat for her, she takes his plate away and he is left in the highchair with nothing. I have been having trouble getting the boys to eat lately. Perhaps it is because they are not feeling well, but they have been really fighting over what I have been preparing for meals. They are never happy with it or want to eat it. So, everyday for every meal she tells me that I should prepare only things they like and enjoy eating. What?!? Who does that? I try to explain that my children would die of heart attacks by the age of six if they only ate chicken nuggets and french fries three meals a day.
I am so exhausted right now. Getting back from vacation and immediately having to deal with two sick kids and grandma is not doing well. This is almost more than I can bear sometimes.
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