Anyone have experience doing eldercare in your home while unschooling?
missalexmissalex
Hi folks. My baby is just 10 months old, but I'm looking at a
situation which looks likely to last a long time so I wanted to check
in with you more experienced folks.
My mildly demented, 90 year old, recently widowed grandfather had a
fall last weekend and was trapped on the floor for 1-2 days. He has
always been stubborn and cranky regarding health issues: refused Life
Alert, tells me I'm crazy when I tell him that he didn't take his
pills, but wants to live forever, etc. At the same time, he is very
sweet and loving. My DH and I get a kick out of him, and he LIVES for
my baby and dog, who has had to come live with us. My mom, his
daughter, is similar. She has had cancer for many years, is barely
functioning independantly, can be very difficult about accepting
help, and often only keeps fighting because of the baby. I try to be
respectful of their desires/autonomy, but their judgement is often
impaired due to their medical problems.
We are looking into buying a house that grandpa could buy into with
us, and probably mom could "come stay" in--more or less, move in
without selling her home, since she is not well enough at this time
to deal with it.
I wish I were asking if I should do this!!!! But I feel strongly
about living my values, and that this is the right thing to do for a
variety of reasons. If nothing else I will no longer be dragging my
kid all over maintaining 3 households. I am just nervous in general,
and nervous about unschooling my LO in this environment. Up to this
point, I assumed the likelihood of either of them living another 4
years was unlikely, so DH and I made a conscious choice to not bring
up homeschooling. My mom taught HS, and my grandpa's life goal is to
see her "go to kindergarten." I'm not too worried about that--it's
more the idea of not being free to go out and do whatever she wants,
whenever, that bothers me. We should have some nursing help check in,
but I'd expect to be the main person helping them out.
Does anyone have experience that you can share? I would really
appreciate it.
Thank you!
Alex
situation which looks likely to last a long time so I wanted to check
in with you more experienced folks.
My mildly demented, 90 year old, recently widowed grandfather had a
fall last weekend and was trapped on the floor for 1-2 days. He has
always been stubborn and cranky regarding health issues: refused Life
Alert, tells me I'm crazy when I tell him that he didn't take his
pills, but wants to live forever, etc. At the same time, he is very
sweet and loving. My DH and I get a kick out of him, and he LIVES for
my baby and dog, who has had to come live with us. My mom, his
daughter, is similar. She has had cancer for many years, is barely
functioning independantly, can be very difficult about accepting
help, and often only keeps fighting because of the baby. I try to be
respectful of their desires/autonomy, but their judgement is often
impaired due to their medical problems.
We are looking into buying a house that grandpa could buy into with
us, and probably mom could "come stay" in--more or less, move in
without selling her home, since she is not well enough at this time
to deal with it.
I wish I were asking if I should do this!!!! But I feel strongly
about living my values, and that this is the right thing to do for a
variety of reasons. If nothing else I will no longer be dragging my
kid all over maintaining 3 households. I am just nervous in general,
and nervous about unschooling my LO in this environment. Up to this
point, I assumed the likelihood of either of them living another 4
years was unlikely, so DH and I made a conscious choice to not bring
up homeschooling. My mom taught HS, and my grandpa's life goal is to
see her "go to kindergarten." I'm not too worried about that--it's
more the idea of not being free to go out and do whatever she wants,
whenever, that bothers me. We should have some nursing help check in,
but I'd expect to be the main person helping them out.
Does anyone have experience that you can share? I would really
appreciate it.
Thank you!
Alex