Monday, week 3 of the new normal.

We moved Mom into the assisted living facility 3 weeks ago today.  I think it is getting easier.   The kids and I had a good visit on Saturday between the 2 ice storms (which were thankfully pretty minor here).  The only thing is, they only had a studio apartment open and so there's not a lot of room.  We have 1 upholstered chair in there, a single bed, a table and chairs and that's pretty much it.  There's a kitchenette, but the whole apartment is maybe dorm room sized.  The kids went down to one of the little sitting areas to watch Disney and work on their book and accidentally knocked over a lamp, getting the attention of one of the workers there .  In their defense, it was pretty precariously placed on a table, but then they came back to the room to sit on the bed and watch Disney.  It's not as comfortable there as it was in mom's house with a living room and a den, but I guess we have to adjust.  I'm not getting a million calls a day about the situation right now, which helps me feel more peaceful about it.  During yesterday's nap, I only had 2 calls. 

The current crisis involves her TV which is a new one we bought because her old one was really big and heavy.  She couldn't figure out the remote so we got another remote, but she couldn't cope with that one either and was unplugging the cable.  I put a sign on the wall for her not to unplug the cable, so Saturday when she was there, she had gotten behind the dresser it is on and unplugged the electricity.  (I had previously put a sign on the TV itself that said that the button for on/off was on the back of the TV and showed her where to look for it, but that didn't work either.  Also, why can't the TV buttons be more obvious and maybe on the front? )  I may have to ask one of the workers to come in each night and turn it off and come in each morning and turn it on.  Who would have thought that a TV could be a stressor?  My mom cannot remember anything about the TV, but can always remember how to use the phone and she uses it constantly to call her sister to ask her sister how to do everything and then her sister calls me. It's just frustrating for everyone involved, including my poor mom.  I mean can you imagine not being able to remember anything? 

Anyway, that's it.  The new normal.  Thankfully, my children have been raised well and they homeschool themselves and even ground themselves if they mess up.  My son was talking about not being able to sleep the other night because he had to ground himself from audio books due to not getting his school work done in time on Friday night.  :-P