Little white lies....

Well, there is a tentative truce here at our house. Papa and I squared off last evening over him going to bed at 8:00 PM. I told him he had to wait til at least 9:00. He was furious; I was adamant. I relented at 8:45 and he pouted and evidently decided to pay me back. I woke up at 6:00 AM to find him pushing the wheelchair into the bathroom. He said he was not going to wake me up. As usual, he missed the point completely. The earlier he retires, the earlier he begins awake and then he's up and down till I am completely awake, then he goies back to sleep. I asked him this morning if he wanted me to help him back in the bed or did he want to do it himself. He said, "I got out of it by myself!" Then he allowed as how he might as well let me help him since he was worn out. I asked him what would happen if he fell when no one was with him. Was he willing to take a chance on breaking a limb or his hip? No answer.

Yesterday morning Larry and I woke up to find his bathroom light on. When Larry asked Kenny about it, he said he didn't want to wake me up so he managed to climb over or around the bedrail, grab hold of the wheelchair and push it to the bathroom. When I asked him about doing that, the story changed. He rang the bell five times and I did not come. (Now bear in mind that I can hear him breathe over the baby monitor and the bell nearly knocks me out of the bed. Hmmmm.) Colleen, his nurse, suggested that we not give him his sleeping pills until midnight when he has his last dose (or first dose) of Methadone. It has been working better, but he still fusses. My latest ploy is to have supper about 7 PM. It interrupts "Spin the Bottle" and Jeopardy but he will at least stay up a little longer. He still has the mind set that he needs to sleep 10 to 12 hours at night, but his body is rebeling, and we are caught in the middle.

Larry and I are really learning to use psychology to deal with him at times. It is a much more peaceful solution than losing our patience. We keep reminding ourselves that he is 90 years old and has been completely independent since he was 15. That is a difficult pattern to break. Let me tell you, he surrenders only when there is no other choice. I am sure that is one reason he has lived so long.

Today was a good day in toto. Rose, our wonderful one-day-a-week housekeeper, came over here today and probably will continue to do so. Papa adores Rose and she loves him so he was thrilled. We actually had time to leave and go to a funeral. A sad reason, but Larry and I got to go out together. We came home to a happy Kenny and a clean house. I manage the clean clothes and linens but the clean house has thus far eluded me. I guess it is clean enough to be be sanitary and dirty enough to be comfortable.

I will probably not blog again before the Fourth so here's hoping that all of you will comtemplate liberty this Fourth of July and pray God that we continue to be a free people and a light to the rest of the world. Blessings to all.