I love for back-to-school season to begin. It’s not that I want the summer to end or I’m tired of my kids; I just long for the routine of the days. As a private music teacher, my schedule is entangled with the school schedule. Although I attempt summer lessons, the outline of my days changes depending on family life including camp, vacations, and extended family visits.
My schedule of lessons and accompanying has a reassuring steadiness in August and September. October through December is a madhouse of driving from Lawrenceville to Dawsonville and several counties in between accompanying concerts, honors choruses, and competitions. January and February slow down a bit with March through May being even crazier than the fall. I’m grateful, of course. I am thrilled to be able to do what I love with so many wonderful kids and teachers!
With my zany schedule for my professional life, it’s a blessing to quiet down and relax into Mom’s routine. Caring for her is a mostly calm endeavor. As I have said many times before, Mom is a joy. She’s so easy to tend; trips to the bathroom or eating her meals are the only times I have to be “hands on.” If she’s not asleep, we’re listening to music or talking about the past/present blur. She rarely gets agitated if I follow the 10 Commandments of Caregiving (see last week’s article here.)
A typical day in Mom’s life follows this pattern:
Sometime between 7-8 AM, she needs assistance with getting out of bed and getting ready for the day. Sometimes she’ll be ready to eat breakfast or she might want to continue to rest. Either way, after she eats breakfast, she generally wants to rest some more.
Then between 11-12:30, she needs assistance with the bathroom and a move to the front room (the dining room) where she’ll eat lunch with the caregiver and Dad if he’s back from running his errands. She’s been eating well and we’re grateful! They’ll talk, laugh, watch the birds, and always, always finish with a dessert. (Her favorite now is a Little Debbie Oatmeal Cookie.) Very often, she’ll feed herself the cookie.
By 2:00 or 2:30, she’s usually ready to go back to her chair. If it’s a good day, she’ll continue talking and enjoying music. If she’s tired, she’ll rest.
Her daytime caregiver will leave around 4 and Dad’s in charge. Mom and Dad will watch a ball game or listen to albums or both. He sits in the chair beside her and holds her hand for hours. The only medicine she takes is carefully disguised in ice cream and it’s often all she wants for dinner.
The overnight caregiver comes between 8-9 PM. Sometimes Dad already has her teeth brushed and her in bed. Sometimes it’s a job for both caregiver and Dad to do together. Either way, once she’s settled, she’s down for the night. Occasionally she’ll get cold, but she’s usually quiet until she falls asleep between 10:30 and 11.
Overnight, her needs are simple unless she needs to go to the bathroom or has a bad dream.
Her routine is simple and steady. Except for an occasional visitor or drive into the wide world of Clarkesville, her routine doesn’t change much from day to day. I’m grateful for the steady ordinariness of it all. It could change in a moment, so today I’m very happy for routine.
