JZ I want you to Mary Poppins in and give that talk to HPF. She won't hear it from me.

Burrell, there is totally something in the air.

Guess which mother-daughter duo spent last night covered in hives? Stupid new dryer sheets.

Guess which mother-daughter duo spent last night covered in hives? Stupid new dryer sheets.

No fair!

Dryer sheets are evil.

Matilda's much better this morning, after a warm tub and lots of love from everyone and a good night's sleep, but I'm not dumb enough to think it will last, living as we do in the actual world with all the bad voices pressing in. I wish we could all Mary Poppins each other's sprog.

Is there code to restrict submitting more than one Good Stuff a day? Should I not? Because the reason so many posts are here is that over 50% of the time, that Submit button doesn't you know, let me dominate it.

So, here: [link]

Aw, Emmett. I mean, you guys are grown. I *expect* you to do that. Teenaged boys, however, are often shits.(I mean, I had a little brother, not a big one, but if I'd told him I had a problem with my ears, he'd probably call me Dumbo or something.)

I am happy to have any and all submissions!

My changing criteria in what I want from a nurse:

Before nurse one, be able to deal with her needs.

Before nurse two, be at work when the bus dropped her off. Be on time.

Before nurse three, be regular in attendance.

Before nurse four, be able to go to school with her and be here on time every day.

Now, I want a nurse who doesn't make me feel like I should not be in my house when she is there.

Gah, Kat.

I like our caregiver but my mother won't let her bathe her, and that's becoming a problem. My dad suspects it's because the woman is black; me, I'm not so sure. Dementia does terrible things to the mind.

Anyway, fun times in Consuela-land: apparently Mom fell out of her wheelchair last night and (maybe) hit her head on the floor and they called an ambulance and off they went to the ER. My sister picked up my dad & was at the hospital until 2AM; the big problem was apparently convincing the doctors that her confusion and upset was from her dementia, not hitting her head (if she even did).

I have a sinking feeling the ALF is going to tell us she can't be safely cared for there, because my dad is clearly not able to provide enough care.

And I'm taking several hours off in the middle of the day today to take Dad to the neurologist. This will be the third week in a row I've taken time off from work to take a parent to the doctor. Whoohoo.

Oh no, Consuela.

Then I told Emmett that Matilda felt bad about her ears and I mentioned the story about his sticky-outy ears. And he picked her up and tipped her upside down and said, "What are you complaining about?! Your ears are perfect and lie flat to your head. I have ear problems! And I'm gorgeous! You're just making up a problem that's not real!"

Aw, that's wonderful. He's such a great big brother.

This will be the third week in a row I've taken time off from work to take a parent to the doctor. Whoohoo.

Oof, that's rough. I'm sorry your mom had a bad fall, and I'm sorry that you're still having to spend so much time and energy dealing with your parents' needs. I wish we had better support in this country for people who need to take a significant amount of time off work to care for sick or aging family members. It's just as important as good maternity leave policies, but doesn't get talked about nearly as much, I think.