Welcome to my new blog "The Sandwich Chronicles." I am the poster child for Sandwich Generation. My daughter is currently in Grade 1. My mother is 85. I am the only child and my mother's family live 6 hours away. Just call me chicken salad.
I work from home as a freelance writer. This means that I have the flexible schedule necessary to deal with a young child and an elderly mother. This also means that sometimes my "work" day starts at 7pm when my husband can tag off with my daughter.
My daughter has special needs. So far, we know she has Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Anxiety Disorder. She may or may not have Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, all of these courtesy of her birth mother. My mother has just been diagnosed with vascular dementia, a fancy medical term for "yep, she's losing her marbles but we can't find the hole in the bag."
WARNING: I have a dark, warped sense of humour. I find humour in strange situations, and I often use that to cope. I'd rather laugh than cry, because mascara burns when you cry it off. Just because I find it funny does not mean I do not take it seriously. It's just if I don't laugh about it, I might just give in the inclination to curl up and rock in the fetal position for a few weeks, and if mama goes down, the whole circus goes down with it. You have been warned. Click away or read on.
Lisa, this is wonderful. So many people (mostly but not all women, I think) will relate to part or all of what you're going through. Bravo!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant writing, brilliant observations. I have to agree about the hospital parking! I once had to take my son to hospital with an asthma attack, and didn't bring any cash. I didn't have a credit card, and the hospital didn't take debit cards. But what could I do? My son couldn't breathe! Three hours later, when I tried to leave with my now-breathing son, the security guard berated me for about 20 minutes for not stopping at a bank machine on my way to the hospital to get money to pay for parking.
ReplyDelete@Kathe, @Teresa, thanks so much. Teresa, it's ridiculous, isn't it? the parking lot at the hospital spat a ticket out when you enter. You have to take the ticket and pay before you leave. There's a parking ticket machine at the ER entrance and the main entrance, but the main entrance is not accessible after 9pm. If the ER machine isn't functioning (which happens often) people are trapped. There is enough stress without worrying you don't have enough cash to pay the parking.
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