Parents Visiting -- Panic Attack!
OPEN: JANUS FILE #0282
I love my parents.
Really, I do.
It's just that there are one or two things they can do that can drive me to varying state of anxiety, panic, or other assorted forms of craziness. (How many of you can say the same thing? Raise your hands, please. Yeah, I thought that was the case, too.)
And Tuesday, they did the one thing that can trigger a full-blown panic attack.
They came to Louisville for a visit.
It wasn't seeing them that was so bad. When they lived here in Louisville, I saw them all the time. I had dinner with them several times a week. That part of it wasn't the problem.
The problem was that they were in my condo.
First, I discovered some time ago that I start getting panic attacks if people are in my condo for too long. I mean, I dated my ex for two years, and I never took her back to my place once during that time. (I don't think the ex's mother ever knew that, but I rather suspect that she would appreciate it if she did know.) I had a housewarming party a couple of months after I moved in, and it was one of the most nervewracking experiences of my life.
Another reason for the panic attack was getting ready for their visit. I've known about the visit for two or three weeks, and I've been trying to get the place cleaned up in preparation. And since my housekeeping skills don't match the high standards set by Oscar Madison, I had been trying to get things looking at least semi-respectable. And on that level, I got about half of what I really wanted to get done. (Even half-way cleaned looked a lot better than how it looked before I started.)
And that brings me to yet another reason for their visit. Mom and Dad are both quite aware of my . . . deficiencies when it comes to housekeeping, and they were coming to help me clean the place. Again, not a particularly pleasant way to spend an afternoon. My greatest worry here is that they would throw away something that should not be thrown away, for whatever reason. At least they had me look at everything before it got tossed. I'm pretty certain that I didn't throw away anything really important.
As I said, it was nice to see them again. They kept their visit short -- they went back to Murray yesterday morning. And they decided to stay in a hotel, which made it a lot less nervewracking than it could have been. And maybe I can keep the place more or less neat in case they decide to make another visit in, say, the next century or two.
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0282
I love my parents.
Really, I do.
It's just that there are one or two things they can do that can drive me to varying state of anxiety, panic, or other assorted forms of craziness. (How many of you can say the same thing? Raise your hands, please. Yeah, I thought that was the case, too.)
And Tuesday, they did the one thing that can trigger a full-blown panic attack.
They came to Louisville for a visit.
It wasn't seeing them that was so bad. When they lived here in Louisville, I saw them all the time. I had dinner with them several times a week. That part of it wasn't the problem.
The problem was that they were in my condo.
First, I discovered some time ago that I start getting panic attacks if people are in my condo for too long. I mean, I dated my ex for two years, and I never took her back to my place once during that time. (I don't think the ex's mother ever knew that, but I rather suspect that she would appreciate it if she did know.) I had a housewarming party a couple of months after I moved in, and it was one of the most nervewracking experiences of my life.
Another reason for the panic attack was getting ready for their visit. I've known about the visit for two or three weeks, and I've been trying to get the place cleaned up in preparation. And since my housekeeping skills don't match the high standards set by Oscar Madison, I had been trying to get things looking at least semi-respectable. And on that level, I got about half of what I really wanted to get done. (Even half-way cleaned looked a lot better than how it looked before I started.)
And that brings me to yet another reason for their visit. Mom and Dad are both quite aware of my . . . deficiencies when it comes to housekeeping, and they were coming to help me clean the place. Again, not a particularly pleasant way to spend an afternoon. My greatest worry here is that they would throw away something that should not be thrown away, for whatever reason. At least they had me look at everything before it got tossed. I'm pretty certain that I didn't throw away anything really important.
As I said, it was nice to see them again. They kept their visit short -- they went back to Murray yesterday morning. And they decided to stay in a hotel, which made it a lot less nervewracking than it could have been. And maybe I can keep the place more or less neat in case they decide to make another visit in, say, the next century or two.
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0282