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Member
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Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: near Allentown, PA
Posts: 209
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Member
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: near Allentown, PA
Posts: 209
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sue,
i have lots of the same issues with my grandkids....not being able to do what i want with them, but i think everything that's been said here is absolutely true.
my oldest grandkids r 8 now, and one of them told me not long ago that he thinks it's 'cool' that Pop (my hubby) goes to the amusement park with them, because he doesn't get to go to story hour at the library with them like i do.....i find it odd that they equate library time and the amusement park, but these kids r big readers and even now when they read so much on their own, they still love to have me read to them.
reading is not especially sedate at our house.....if we come across something new, we look it up in the encyclopedia or the computer....and that can take a LONG time because if the article says "see also...." we like to look up the 'also' and can spend ages finding lots of neat things.....i can never explain the transitions later, but we can start with sharks and finish with lightening bugs, and the boys love it!
the one thing i want to point out is that u mentioned 2 specific things that really tie u in knots, and thy're things that cause me trouble too....both shopping and kids get to me because of the noise.....anything noisy will leave me just wiped out and hurting .....church is noisy - most people don't notice that, but it's true.......i haven't been to a movie in years, because the theaters r SO loud that my pain just climbs right up the scale......my grandkids have learned to back off and give me 'whisper time' so my 'bad arm' doesn't hurt, and sometimes i just go in the other room for 5 minutes of quiet, which calms me down.....it isn't just the pain.....too much noise will also leave me feeling like my skin is too tight, and i want to bite someone!
my family doc knows my daughter and her boys and asked me one time how i manage with them and i explained about 'whisper time' and how, if we're all out somewhere, they take turns holding hands with me on my bad side so that nobody can bump me....the doctor thought this was wonderful!...she says it's teaching the kids compassion, and to respect disabilities, and thinks all children should learn how to cope with the issues like that.
you're not crazy....it's this miserable disease that's crazy, with it's weird symptoms.....and try not to worry so much about what kind of grandmom u r.....i really think the grandmom's job is to love, to listen, and to pass on what we can....if your gang learns understanding and compassion from u, that's a wonderful legacy.
liz
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