TIME OUT!

AUGHUGHGH

It isn’t easy taking care of a four year old that is trapped in a 78 year old body. And this week he was put in TIME OUT!

It started on Thursday when we were getting ready for bowling. He had anxiety which is normal. He wasn’t sure if he could bowl, wanted to know if we could leave him home, the whole nine yards. I told him he would be fine once we got there, to get dressed.

Buttons are hard for Bob now. You have to get the first one started and then he can do the rest. He had some trouble and started complaining that I needed to buy him shirts with zippers. Oh boy, that was the first sign that this wasn’t going to be easy.

Just like a four year old, once he is dressed you need to leave right away. If you aren’t ready to leave he paces and gets anxious. Well, of course I wasn’t ready to walk out the door right that moment so the pacing began and the comments began about how we weren’t going to ever leave, blah, blah, blah.

We left for the bowling alley and of course I left the camera on my desk. And of course Sarah forgot to put the bowling bags in the car like I asked her to. And of course every one was hungry and asking for something to eat. And of course I was getting madder, and madder, and madder by the minute. The whole reason for going bowling was for him to get off his butt and get some exercise. This was the payback I was receiving for taking care of him?

We got to the bowling alley and we were the only customers there. That made it nice because I was seeing red by this time and needed to lob some balls down the lane. We needed to find a ball that he could hold and went through at least a dozen before I finally told him that the final ball was the ball he was going to use and that was the end of our search. Yes, he pouted and started to refuse to bowl.

He had to give Sarah and me advice on how to bowl; that would have been fine except I was now past the red zone and quickly headed for black. How dare he try to give me advice on how to bowl! I was bowling a 95 and he had a 41. I didn’t need to have help walking up to the line and have someone steady me after I through the ball. I do believe red flames were shooting out of my eyes.

After bowling I took him to a new ice cream shop that had opened right next door. I got him a chocolate shake and he sat outside and drank every last drop. Afterwards, we were in the car on the way home and he asked me what I had been putting in his food to make him poop plastic? WHAT??? He then explained that it hurt when he pooped and it felt like I was putting plastic in his food. AUGHUGH!!!!

So what was the lesson I learned from all of this? For starters, he needs to drink more water because his poo is hurting him. HA! He forgets to drink now. I find that interesting since this was a man who used to drink ½ a gallon of tea a day and then drink beer after that. Now, he hardly drinks one glass of tea a day if we don’t remind him to drink. So, we now are checking regularly for him to drink something.

The second lesson I learned is that there will be days like this and I need to relax and just let the Lord handle them and I need to stop trying to control them. When I try to control the situation it just gets worse. When I stop, take a deep breath; and say a simple prayer it goes a lot smoother. I have to remember that he will act four years old more and more now, and that is alright. I have dealt with four year olds before and sometimes they need time out and sometimes they just need a hug.

This week we both needed time out. That is why Rob took me out Friday night to our friend’s cigar store. They play jazz music; we sit around, have a glass of wine and visit with friends.

Sorry guys, I don’t have new pictures of Bob this week to post. Instead, I give you pictures of Bob as a young man, just starting out on life. This was a time when he didn’t have to worry about knowing how to button a shirt, or remembering to drink. This was a time when an older person would say, “You have your whole life ahead of you.”

Give him a call this weekend. Remind him that he still has his whole life ahead of him. This life is just a small journey to what lies ahead.