Weekend stuff

So....this weekend was a designated respite weekend....hurrah.

It all started well.

Off went The Boy to the MMDC with his respite bag and a smile on his face.

On Friday, M and I binge watched series one and two of a programme we like, whilst eating unJboy friendly food in a carefree and decadent manner.

Saturday dawned. M gardened, I did my Russian exercises(the written kind you understand)  then ,together ,we went to the nearby grand metropolis to watch a ballet. We rounded off the day with a spot of reading. No Wallace or Gromit or Shaun the Sheep in sight. Twas positively delightful.

Today, Sunday, M made his way down the stairs to make tea. While he was there, the phone rang...it was the MMRC. Jboy was not well and needed us to collect him as soon as possible. So, off we went

On arrival, the Boy was lying on the floor, clearly not quite himself. He took a considerable amount of persuasion to get him in the car...

Everything was wrong. We don't collect him. He hadn't stayed his allocated time ...etc. Ill or not, he was not happy about leaving early.

However, on arrival home  he smiled then lay on the settee and has been there all day. To date we have watched WallE, Up x 2 and Ice Age on the dvd player...Wallace and Gromit have just made their debut for today....😱

Is it a bug or is it something they gave him to eat? I checked his daily diary and found that he had been given peach (guess what..he can't eat peach), spaghetti bolognaise(made with what ,I wonder..) and apple pie (you've got it..another no eat zone)...so who is to know whether this episode is food related or viral....?

Whatever the reason, the outcome is the same..although he hasn't exhibited either D or V since arriving home this morning.......it's a good job we hadn't taken the opportunity to fly off for a weekend break in Barcelona or Paris ( laughs slightly hysterically)(at the idea...and the dream of such a thing)

It confirms to us that respite is not to be taken for granted and to enjoy it while we have it, as it can be whipped away ....like a tablecoth from under a tea set. It also confirms that we can't plan grand holidays far away as we might be called back at any time....holidays within a 2 hour radius it is then.

Thankfully, we have always liked Norfolk!

Poor Jboy. Not himself at all....😥

Here's hoping that a good sleep and a bit of tlc will do the trick....then he will be back to mum-wrestling, hairpulling and the like...

The End

Saving the world....

So.....we are trying to be as largely plastic free as possible in our lives. We have found marvellous plastic free alternatives for most things but I am afraid that there is one area in which i am failing...the Boy is doubly incontinent which means giant incontinence products...alright, they are HUGE nappies...let's say it how it is! Disposable nappies. Huge disposable nappies. Made largely of plastic products. It is true that the manufacturers are doing their bit and there is less plastic...but it is still plastic.

Every time I change him, scrabbling about on hands and knees, wrestling with a giant baby who has the strength of the 30 year old man that he is ,inwardly and sometimes even outwardly , I apologise to the world but I really cannot contemplate any alternative......can you even begin to imagine a)the size of a terry nappy that I would need?  b)the number of them I would need for even one day? and c)the washing....not to mention the unmentionable contents which I won't mention, obviously.

So, sorry ,world....I am really trying in every other way but this is one thing I currently cannot change.

I don't throw them in the sea or anything quite as gross but even so...

Sorry, turtles.
Sorry, dolphins.....

Sorry

The End

Update....

So....turns out the PiP people had simply sent out a standard letter to all current claimants....and they had the Boy's info all along!!! I eventually managed to break through the wall of telephonic hoops through which one has to jump to get to a real person yesterday only to discover that all is well....no need to worry...

oh, hurrah.

She said, wearily.

What a week. Pushed, pummelled, emotionally wrought, we face the weekend with the certain knowledge that the delights of at least one garden centre await us...

Joy unbounded.

The End

😁

Today's shenanigans

So...no resolution to the PIP, mainly because I can't get through on the phone and there appears to be no other way to contact them.  Hey ho...the worst that could happen, I guess, is that his money stops until we are able to reinstate it...


Today was the finance meeting, or annual torture chamber, for the Boy's continuing care at the MMDC. I understand...I do...that these procedures have to be done but it's such a stress in an already stressed-filled day. Today I nearly melted into a puddle as I endeavoured to get across to the lovely young thing the absolute struggle that is our day to day life. She was truly professional at all times and I can logically see that she was doing her best within the parameters of the system but life with the Boy on a day to day basis is not always within these parameters. He is unpredictable. His triggers are not consistent..otherwise it would be easier...he isnt in constant danger because WE MAKE SURE HE ISN'T. He doesn't choke (very often)or eat things which are not food (most of the time)or play with knives (frequently)or run into the road(usually) because we manage his life! Left to his own devices, or unsupervised, he probably would. So I was trying to say that he IS at severe risk of damage to self ,property and others but because he DOESN'T  choke or eat mud or cut things or get run over, she was arguing that his needs aren't as high as I was asserting. I got a bit upset and cross and I think I said politely (although in the heat of the moment it is sometimes hard to be as polite as one can be) that he doesn't do these things because we don't allow them to happen....to the best of our abilities.

The results of the meeting will be forthcoming.

Postmeeting, I staggered to work and endeavoured to be as jolly as a Bookface Elf can be....

But enough of my moaning. He is home from a delightful day at the MMDC where they are indeed MOST MARVELLOUS and he has had a joyous day.

The groceries have been delivered so we can eat something with the inevitable potato.

I've had a bucket of tea.

All is wellish with the world. Let's face it, it could be so much worse and tomorrow is a new day....

Onwards and upwards.

The End

😉😉😉😉😉

And so it continues....

So.....I filled in the huge PIP form and duly posted it...then today , May the 4th be with you, I had a letter saying that they hadn’t received it and would be stopping Josh’s benefits from some time soon in May. I immediately tried to ring them but of course it is Saturday which is followed by Sunday then,  in this case, Bank Holiday Monday so I won’t be able to get to them until Tuesday.  I could feel my stress levels reaching boiling point tbh....heart pounding etc.

WHAT TO DO???

Thankfully, after two cups of tea and some very determined comfort eating, I concluded that ,as there is nothing I can do until Tuesday, I should try to forget it.

I’m trying.

I might need to chat to myself in the middle of the night when worries always rear their ugly heads and poke me awake.... but for now, I am calm(ish).

M and I have a small pond in the garden which has been there for many a long year. It has been more of a stinking swampy bog  for the last few years but earlier this year I decided to try to revive it. I started to remove some of the rotting leaves which have been clogging it...oh boy did they pong!  M joined in and soon it was looking a lot more like a pond and a lot less like a boggy swamp. We have since undertaken to put oxygenating plants in and have kept it topped up with water.  This week I found a newt in its clear waters, plus waterboatmen skimming their way across the surface and Caddisfly larvae, which are an indicator of good water quality. We feel chuffed. Thankfully it is at the bottom of the garden so there is no danger of the Boy falling in as he won’t go further than the edge of the patio, some 200ft away.

Today, however, having received and then stressed over the PIP letter, I went down to the pond for a little light relief and to put in our latest plant...a small pond rush. However, on reaching into the pond to retrieve some floating debris, my foot slipped. Yes....my be-trainered  right foot slid into the mud and black ooze right up to the ankle. Yuk.

Debris retrieved, I then squelched back up the garden, feeling a little foolish and cross and not a little soggy.

Seeing a woman who was not only stressed but now wet, M kept out of the way.  Wise man.

The saga goes on...

But for now

The End