A brief round of venting
I feel cheated out of my young adulthood.
Yes, the baby and husband were things I willingly agreed to. I did sign up for them. I did not sign up for a senile mother and a father in denial. For some time it's been pretty apparent that she is headed downhill. Things are always out on display so she can find them, bills fairly often get forgotten about, and she has the distraught 3 year old look more and more often. I had assumed that she'd get better at taking care of the baby with practice. After all, my brother is 20 now. It's clearly been a long time since she took care of a baby. But no. Her solution to every problem is:
"Linnea is screaming. I know! I'll sing at her while shaking something at her and see if that works!"
When it doesn't...
1. feed the baby.
2. change the baby's diaper.
3. realize the baby needs either a new outfit or a diaper cover (the plastic part that goes over her cloth diaper)
4. after 10 minutes of neither strategy working, put the baby in her swing and turn on the annoying music.
The first few times I intervened, hoping she would learn better what Linnea likes, doesn't like, and what to do about things. But my mother continues to try the same failing solutions to the same problems. yes, sometimes the baby is hungry. NOT IF SHE ATE 2 MINUTES AGO! yes, sometimes her diaper is wet. BUT NOT IF YOU JUST CHANGED IT 5 MINUTES AGO. Yesterday Linnea choked while my mom was shoving a bottle at her while she screamed because she was tired. Instead of immediately flipping the baby around, she carefully set down the bottle, put the cap on, and then turned her to pat her back. Linnea could have died. Is it so hard to take a major problem seriously? Is milk that priceless? FOR FUCK'S SAKE, THINK BEFORE DOING THINGS!
I'm not supposed to be stuck caring for my mother before I'm 30. Yet here we are. One frustratingly forgetful parent who is getting worse all the time, one parent who hasn't accepted that it is memory loss yet. Only one sibling. This is supposed to be a time where Eric & I enjoy the baby growing up, where our parents are capable of caring for her sometimes so we can go to the movies or something. GAH!
Yes, the baby and husband were things I willingly agreed to. I did sign up for them. I did not sign up for a senile mother and a father in denial. For some time it's been pretty apparent that she is headed downhill. Things are always out on display so she can find them, bills fairly often get forgotten about, and she has the distraught 3 year old look more and more often. I had assumed that she'd get better at taking care of the baby with practice. After all, my brother is 20 now. It's clearly been a long time since she took care of a baby. But no. Her solution to every problem is:
"Linnea is screaming. I know! I'll sing at her while shaking something at her and see if that works!"
When it doesn't...
1. feed the baby.
2. change the baby's diaper.
3. realize the baby needs either a new outfit or a diaper cover (the plastic part that goes over her cloth diaper)
4. after 10 minutes of neither strategy working, put the baby in her swing and turn on the annoying music.
The first few times I intervened, hoping she would learn better what Linnea likes, doesn't like, and what to do about things. But my mother continues to try the same failing solutions to the same problems. yes, sometimes the baby is hungry. NOT IF SHE ATE 2 MINUTES AGO! yes, sometimes her diaper is wet. BUT NOT IF YOU JUST CHANGED IT 5 MINUTES AGO. Yesterday Linnea choked while my mom was shoving a bottle at her while she screamed because she was tired. Instead of immediately flipping the baby around, she carefully set down the bottle, put the cap on, and then turned her to pat her back. Linnea could have died. Is it so hard to take a major problem seriously? Is milk that priceless? FOR FUCK'S SAKE, THINK BEFORE DOING THINGS!
I'm not supposed to be stuck caring for my mother before I'm 30. Yet here we are. One frustratingly forgetful parent who is getting worse all the time, one parent who hasn't accepted that it is memory loss yet. Only one sibling. This is supposed to be a time where Eric & I enjoy the baby growing up, where our parents are capable of caring for her sometimes so we can go to the movies or something. GAH!