Saturday, March 29, 2008

Prayers for patience here at the Pillars........Please!!

My mother-in-law has been living with us for the past 2 weeks in transition from being in an assisted living facility with her husband, to being newly widowed and being uprooted from her home in Houston and moving here in NC. She is a complainer, she has ALWAYS been a complainer, tonight she is complaining about her arm hurting from a tetinus shot she got Monday, but she didn't complain about it until tonight to the point that my husband finally broke down and get her a tylenol. She doesn't do anything but sleep and eat. Just now, I heard her say to my knight, "Ouch! oh, this chair, I must be sitting in it wrong and it's hurting my back.......oh, it's bad getting old, don't get old, doug, don't get old....'sigh'" This goes on every night and during the day when it's just the girls and I, she is much better and acts fairly normal. But, she "works" her son so obviously!!

AAUUGGHH! I need patience!! She has been this way for as long as I have known her, but at least I was able to get out and go to my own home!! How many walks in the neighborhood can one do?

10 comments:

Marie said...

Oh dear Ebeth I know you have written this with a bit of humour but complainers really grate on me.

Can you walk around with your fingers in your ears..I did that with my Grandmother when she came to live with us. It may have been rude but she stopped her complaints with me at least..but then again I have always been a rebel;). With a MIL though it's different.

I will pray for you:)

Peace to you:)

Marie xoxoxo & extra *hugs*

aine said...

Ebeth, I'll be praying for you and your family. Have you checked into a Senior Center for your MIL? My mother loves her Senior Center. They provide transportation to and from, recreation, medical checks(blood pressure, foot care, lectures), lunch, field trips but most of all, companionship with others who have gone through the same things. Widowhood,aging, change in living circumstances, etc. She's much more mobile than some of the other seniors, so she gets to be the nurturer to them, like helping get their food, those little things, and she just thrives there.

To tell the truth, my mother has a much more active social life than I do!

Maybe after your MIL settles down a bit she might find that she would enjoy a similar adventure. Good for all of you.

God Bless.

Anonymous said...

that's tough...I will pray...

Barb Szyszkiewicz said...

Hope you will be able to hang in there.

Is there anything you can give her to DO, even some small thing, that will take her mind off her own troubles and let her focus on something else?

gemoftheocean said...

Barb's got an excellent idea. Right now she's may well be feeling that everything's been taken from her and she's being cast aside as something old and useless.

As hard is it might be, suck it up and give her a little TLC *AND* something constructive to do.

What talents does she do? Emphasize those. What creative thing does she do well? She must have some good points. Then build on those. The sainted Fr. Shipley has often said that it brings out the best in one when you are creating rather than destroying.

EC Gefroh said...

Good suggestions here Ebeth. I hope things get better for you. I will be praying.

Jean Heimann said...

Praying for you, Ebeth.

One suggestion: Can you put in a DVD or videotape of some old I Love Lucy episodes or some other comedies to make her laugh or at least drown out the complaining?:)Music might help, too.

Praying for both of you.

Hang in there!

God bless you!

Jean

Ebeth said...

All is going well, thanks to all of your prayers. Yes, I gave her some crochet hooks and some yarn and she made a square....then stopped. We gave her a puzzle, she worked on it for an hour.....then stopped. Our 2 dogs and 2 cats seems to be most successful in entertaining her.

Oh, and Jean, this is too funny, one of the cable channels is having an "I Love Lucy" marrathon and she has been laughing her head off!! I laughed when I just read your comment.

Love to you all!

Hugs!
Ebeth

Lyn F. said...

Sounds like my grandmother on my father's side. You know the type - never happy about anything, and complains about everything. Kind of hard to deal with people like that ... but somehow, one of my uncles found a way. I guess it "helps" that that particular uncle practically lives in the church as he is the sacristan there, and when he's not in church, he can devote all his attention to his mummy.

Hang in there ...

Lyn

Alexandra said...

Prayers for patience and a good senior center! I completely understand your situation. Prayers for you MIL as well...may see find peace of mind.