More like a trip instead of a slip

 After bringing SIL home for the night and the next morning, I realized just how much time I spend focused on keeping her safe. She was in the same room with me all. day. long. Except for sleeping, I had her with me. Why might you ask? Partly, for safety, when I went outside, she would follow, tripping every few steps on her own feet and the unlevel ground. Yet if she was left inside there were dangers there also. She has poor safety awareness. A watermelon on the counter was a game of hide and seek. Okay that sounds weird, let me explain. 

When SIL first came to live here she was pretty immobile. She could not make her legs work so she stayed mainly in her room. As she became a little more adventurous, she also became more delusional. Most of my good knives and scissors lived on magnetic strips in the kitchen. I had DH hang another strip in the laundry area so that all really dangerous sharps could be kept out of reach. I also insisted that he install a locking handle on the laundry room door, for more reasons than just the sharps. The basement stairs and an exit door for the house are also in the laundry room. 

Back to the hide and seek game. The island was partially cluttered, but not overwhelmed with "stuff". SIL spotted the watermelon, eye test=she saw so, not blind, she wanted that melon cut up. Hence, she started looking for the knives that were hiding. Mind you she did not ask for a knife. After a few minutes of not finding them, she proceeded to try and cut the melon with a non-serrated butter knife.

 With her incontinence, not new, but I never realized that she has a bladder the size of a Winnebago, I had three extra loads of laundry, couch cushions and a carpet added to my list of things to take care of. This meant I had the laundry room door open so I could do my tasks. This room is extremely cluttered. It is the catchall room. She ventured in behind me but did not acknowledge the knives. Her focus was the washer. According to her niece it was her favorite toy in Montana. She often did three loads of laundry a day, so incontinence has probably been around some time now. That distraction allowed her to forget the butter knife and the melon.

We had breakfast and lunch and then it was nearing time to return to the center for PT. I started an hour early and we ended up leaving a half hour late. On the way I realized that I had a low tire. Thank car makers for the little weird light that they think resembles a "low tire". It does not to me, but that was not what alerted me, it was the pulling to one-side of the road by the car that made me look on the dash and notice the idiot light designed for someone with a good imagination, that is also not me. Now you might think "why not stop and get air?". I did not stop because SIL had already opened the door once, released her seatbelt twice and demanded I stop and let her stretch her legs multiple times. She is not dumb. Just not safe.

We got the center just as the therapist arrived. That allowed me to exit without a scene and go get my tire looked at. That is a story for another day. Let's just say the attendant did not buy that the air from the low tire went into the very overinflated tire.

Back to the niece, it seems to me that either SIL was much better in her ability to remain upright and make safe decisions, or the niece couldn't see the forest for the tree. It could happen to have someone decline so quickly, but I am of the mindset to think that the niece was less observant than she needed to be. They say God protects idiots and small children. I believe this, after all I am living proof, married to more proof.

SIL did not intend to remain at the center, and even did her best to refuse to get in the car to go. It was my thought when I first picked her up, for her to stay two days. However, I was exhausted, and the experience enlightened me to the dangers that still need to be addressed before she returns for any length of time. In fact, her presence made me very aware of things I had not thought of. It may be best to bring her for all day visits at first instead of all night visits.

2nd set of jammies and yikes! uncomfortable!  

one of two ducks brooding

In the meantime, things in the hen house are getting, well, cozy. I have two ducks that are setting and won't move. We have drakes so I am going to let them set for a while and see if we get results! For now, it is time to close and hang the laundry.