Thanks, FIL update, and a mini-rant
Just want to thank all of you for your incredibly kind words of encouragement when my father-in-law had his stroke almost three weeks ago. He's hanging in there -- there were a number of times when it looked as if we were going to lose him, but the last couple of days he's been sitting up and actively communicating. My brother-in-law says he can mouth complete, intelligible sentences, but he's not able to actually speak yet. We expect him to be moving out of ICU (finally!) and into the hospital's respiratory unit, to try to clear the remaining fluid from his lungs, tonight or tomorrow. After that, there will be an unknown period of rehab; estimates have ranged from "three weeks" to "months." Of course, paying for this is a huge issue, as is the question of where he'll go after rehab -- it seems unlikely that he'll be able live at home again.
Meanwhile, my husband and siblings-in-law are having to face how totally unequipped my mother-in-law is to deal with the world. She's mostly okay when my FIL is around to run interference for her, but on her own, it's becoming increasingly clear how tenuous her relationship with reality is. She's extremely resistant to change, so it's going to be very hard to convince her to leave the house where she's lived since her oldest child (my spouse) was a toddler, no matter how clear it becomes that she can't manage it by herself. The two brothers-in-law who've been doing the bulk of the elder care aren't at the ends of their respective ropes yet, but they're well within sight. Oy.
And here's my totally unrelated mini-rant: What is it with parents who are constantly seeking recommendations for books for their kids to read? When I was a kid, I went to the library and found my own goddamn books. Or as I got older, I read what my friends were reading. If my mother ever recommended a book to me, it was a pretty sure bet I'd hate it (though I often enjoyed books she left lying around the house). I suspect part of the trend is Special Snowflake Syndrome -- little Chrysalis is such an advanced reader that it's almost impossible to find age-appropriate books that challenge her delicate intellect, don't you know -- and part of it is parental overprotectiveness; a shocking number of my highly educated parent friends claim to prescreen every book their child reads. I feel really sorry for kids who aren't even allowed the joy of discovering their own reading material. My own kids usually discard any book I suggest to them without giving it a second look, so at least that's one family tradition I'm passing on. :-p
Meanwhile, my husband and siblings-in-law are having to face how totally unequipped my mother-in-law is to deal with the world. She's mostly okay when my FIL is around to run interference for her, but on her own, it's becoming increasingly clear how tenuous her relationship with reality is. She's extremely resistant to change, so it's going to be very hard to convince her to leave the house where she's lived since her oldest child (my spouse) was a toddler, no matter how clear it becomes that she can't manage it by herself. The two brothers-in-law who've been doing the bulk of the elder care aren't at the ends of their respective ropes yet, but they're well within sight. Oy.
And here's my totally unrelated mini-rant: What is it with parents who are constantly seeking recommendations for books for their kids to read? When I was a kid, I went to the library and found my own goddamn books. Or as I got older, I read what my friends were reading. If my mother ever recommended a book to me, it was a pretty sure bet I'd hate it (though I often enjoyed books she left lying around the house). I suspect part of the trend is Special Snowflake Syndrome -- little Chrysalis is such an advanced reader that it's almost impossible to find age-appropriate books that challenge her delicate intellect, don't you know -- and part of it is parental overprotectiveness; a shocking number of my highly educated parent friends claim to prescreen every book their child reads. I feel really sorry for kids who aren't even allowed the joy of discovering their own reading material. My own kids usually discard any book I suggest to them without giving it a second look, so at least that's one family tradition I'm passing on. :-p