Last week and the week before that, I spent 9 hours each day watching my grandma. My parents decided to go to Disney World and take my sister and her husband with. That meant that I was the only one who could help with grandma (my other sister lives too far away and my brother works during the day). At first I was dreading it, wondering what I would do all day with her. When it came time for me to grandma-sit, I would pick her up at my parents' house at 11:00 (some days the time varied) and take her to my house. She would stay at my house until 8:00 that evening until I returned her home to someone who stayed with her overnight. The schedule was supposed to be reversed, with grandma being with me during the nights. I was slightly selfish and said that I would watch during the day because I didn't want to have to get up in the night with Grandma.
Our daily activities were very minimal. We would eat lunch. Grandma would nap. Grandma would either hide out laying down or sitting in a chair in my workroom during the after-school crazy homework/chore time. We would eat dinner.
I've decided the best way to describe my experience was that it was "bittersweet." There were good parts to it and bad parts to it. It wasn't really very hard to take care of grandma. It wasn't really time consuming either. It was just repetitive and slightly depressing. Grandma has never been one who is very active or has hobbies. She is content to lay down or sit in a chair all day, waiting for time to pass. This was the hardest for me to watch, because she is missing out on so much in life. Her memory is also slipping away, and I would have to repeat our "schedule" many times during the day, or repeat what to do with the toilet paper after she had used the bathroom. It was hard to see how her body and her health has declined in the last few months. I would help her up and down from chairs, the couch, the bed, and the toilet. Her movements were limited. To get exercise, we'd walk around the island in my kitchen or walk around the game room. She would get tired after a couple times around.
Grandma was so appreciative of me helping with her. When I dropped her off the last night, she started to cry. That right there made it all worth it. Not the crying, just me seeing how much she appreciated what little I did. She had some funny quirks, that could either frustrate me, or I could laugh about. She'd have to have the cupboards and closet doors all closed. She had to have things picked up off the floor (this coming from a lady who would dustmop her floor 3-times a day). She was very particular about her portion size - very small. Once I offered her Sprite (I didn't have her beloved Pepsi), and she gave me the funniest scowl. She definitely does not like American Idol - "it's all messed up." She was very particular about her hair, she'd touch it up every time she went to the bathroom, clacking her teeth while doing it. The teeth - she has false teeth. One time I went to get her off the toilet and there she was sitting on the toilet with her nasty fake teeth out, sitting in her hands. I don't write this to embarrass her in any way; it was just so stinkin' funny.
I realized how "hard" it can be for my mom to be the full-time caregiver, so I have offered to take Grandma more so that my mom can get the much-needed break. I'll have to write down all the silly/odd things Grandma says and does.
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