Thursday, November 11, 2010

Making neccesary changes.

Last week P acquired a full time job manning a calling center. That is in addition to his full time, delicate job. A few weeks ago P was helping a coworker store a fluid in the storage room. There was an OOPS and his coworker ended in the ER with burns to his face and arms. Luckily both P and the coworker wear glasses. It saved their eyes. P picked up splashes in his face, arms and got a nice hole in his shirt. That happened with a rested P, free from major stressors. While he can't avoid life's vicissitudes, he must certainly find a healthy balance.

Last night the SW suggested ways to minimize the vast amount of phone communication that we have been slammed with at home. We need to maintain as much of a routine for SS, because the kid is starting to crack. She misses her Baba and is sick of watching him with a phone stuck to his ear. We are going to stop all non essential phone contact. She had a major meltdown this morning and I was surprised by its intensity. She was letting me know that she has had it and we heard her loud and clear. Good thing we were working on this last night.

We are about to max our text quota, something that has not happened in the three years we have had this cell phone plan. This is also a sign that there is too much texting going on, and we need to stop. P is going to do his best to stay off the phone at work, he does not want it to affect his performance or how he is viewed by his supervisors. Since Maui is two hours behind CA, this works very well for him.

Late last night P received a phone call from the couple who found Grandpa. They have been visiting him daily and were puzzled as to why Grandpa was still non responsive. Yep, P is the communication hub, the head of our new calling center and he forgot about them. OOPS! They were in the dark about his condition, and P shared as much as he felt they needed to know. Again, finding balance.

The reality is that Grandpa will undergo a lot of tests, but what is the use of disseminating every aspect of his care when there are no new findings, when there is no change. If I had to relate what I went through daily while I was hospitalized I would have been exhausted. It is useless for P to parrot non events daily, and it is pretty exhausting. He needs to focus on work, on his child, and on meeting his father's needs to the best of his ability. No need to share every step of how he is taking care of that responsibility. Grandpa entrusted him with his care, he expected P to come through for him, and that is what he has done.

The old adage that no news is good news works wonderfully here. So the call center is shutting down for now, until there are actual news to share. We are used to weekend calls to catch up, but our usual during the week is very low phone activity. This will allow us to regain our footing as a family. Because things have changed significantly around here, it is only a matter of time before P will have to travel. We need to focus on the logistics of that, and enjoy whatever calm we get before the storm. As much calm as one can enjoy with a hyperactive three year old. But that is the kind of calm we welcome anytime. Now SS and I can do research on Strawberry Shortcake. :)

Happy Veteran's day Grandpa.

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