My Elderly Children
May. 29th, 2023 08:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dotintheskyIt's been just over a month since I retured to Brazil with my dad. During the first couple of weeks, my mom was not happy ("I want this strange old man out of here!") and my dad missed his wife and complained the food was making him go to the toilet all night long. Things have settled down a bit and we have finally fallen into some kind of routine:
During the week, I wake up at 5am, when it's still dark outside, cold (we have entered autumn/winter) and "the children" sleep. I feed the cats and let them outside, prepare coffee and lay out breakfast. I move around and eat as quietly as possible, hoping not to wake them up. Turn on the computer as I (thankfully) am still temping for a large educational company in Britain (who are four hours ahead of us) and start work at 6am.
The children get up soon afterwards. I take a small pause to fry them eggs or cook oats, get them settled. I continue working until 2:30pm, taking a half-hour lunch break at 12 noon. We eat brazilian take aways as we don't have time to cook.
Throughout the morning I may get interrupted to help with the television, or I might need to put laundry to wash, or hang it out behind the house. I also get constantly interrupted by mom and dad with various random, repetitive questions. My brother will show up at 8am and start work around the guesthouse - either in the garden or prepping the guestrooms. At 10am, he gives my mom a shower and encourages my dad to take one too. They resist, fight, argue; I listen to it all as I work, sometimes interjecting or helping a little.
Once I'm done with the temp job, I hang out with my parents and serve them an afternoon snack or light supper at 4.30pm. My brother then arrives at 5pm to stay with them so I can go for an hour walk around the guesthouse. I would ideally like to be doing something more vigorous - strength training with calisthenics or weights, or a run - but at the moment that's all the energy I can muster. So I listen to music or a podcast as I walk, photograph the cats I encounter on my way, the birds on the trees, the setting sun behind the mountains. When it's almost dark, I return to the house and take a shower. My brother hands out the evening pills to the children and returns to his home. I choose something on the telly for us to watch: Chef's Table, brazilian news, a YouTube documentary, Netflix's WWII in Colour and, more recently, Downton Abbey.
Around 7pm their eyes start to droop, their chins touch their chests. I show my dad to his room and remind him again which bathroom is his, then lead mom to her bedroom and help her brush her teeth and put on her pyjama. I then drop some eyedrops in her eyes, part of the preparation process for her cataract surgery, say goodnight and turn off the lights. I may then return to the living room to watch a bit more TV (Apple TV's "Silo") or retire to my bedroom to try to read a bit. I fall asleep around 8:30pm.
During weekends, I help serve breakfast in the morning, interact with the guests and help clean up afterwards. I also spend the mornings cleaning the garden, hanging up hammocks, opening parasols, generally trying to make the guesthouse seem inviting and welcoming. On Saturday afternoons I have a few hours to myself when my brother takes the children to his home. I am overwhelmed with options of what to do - play my nephew's Zelda game on the Wii U? Study french? Listen to music really loudly? Read a book? Watch a film? Meditate? - but my freedom seems over too soon when I spot my brother's car coming up the hill, bringing the children back home.
During the week, I wake up at 5am, when it's still dark outside, cold (we have entered autumn/winter) and "the children" sleep. I feed the cats and let them outside, prepare coffee and lay out breakfast. I move around and eat as quietly as possible, hoping not to wake them up. Turn on the computer as I (thankfully) am still temping for a large educational company in Britain (who are four hours ahead of us) and start work at 6am.
The children get up soon afterwards. I take a small pause to fry them eggs or cook oats, get them settled. I continue working until 2:30pm, taking a half-hour lunch break at 12 noon. We eat brazilian take aways as we don't have time to cook.
Throughout the morning I may get interrupted to help with the television, or I might need to put laundry to wash, or hang it out behind the house. I also get constantly interrupted by mom and dad with various random, repetitive questions. My brother will show up at 8am and start work around the guesthouse - either in the garden or prepping the guestrooms. At 10am, he gives my mom a shower and encourages my dad to take one too. They resist, fight, argue; I listen to it all as I work, sometimes interjecting or helping a little.
Once I'm done with the temp job, I hang out with my parents and serve them an afternoon snack or light supper at 4.30pm. My brother then arrives at 5pm to stay with them so I can go for an hour walk around the guesthouse. I would ideally like to be doing something more vigorous - strength training with calisthenics or weights, or a run - but at the moment that's all the energy I can muster. So I listen to music or a podcast as I walk, photograph the cats I encounter on my way, the birds on the trees, the setting sun behind the mountains. When it's almost dark, I return to the house and take a shower. My brother hands out the evening pills to the children and returns to his home. I choose something on the telly for us to watch: Chef's Table, brazilian news, a YouTube documentary, Netflix's WWII in Colour and, more recently, Downton Abbey.
Around 7pm their eyes start to droop, their chins touch their chests. I show my dad to his room and remind him again which bathroom is his, then lead mom to her bedroom and help her brush her teeth and put on her pyjama. I then drop some eyedrops in her eyes, part of the preparation process for her cataract surgery, say goodnight and turn off the lights. I may then return to the living room to watch a bit more TV (Apple TV's "Silo") or retire to my bedroom to try to read a bit. I fall asleep around 8:30pm.
During weekends, I help serve breakfast in the morning, interact with the guests and help clean up afterwards. I also spend the mornings cleaning the garden, hanging up hammocks, opening parasols, generally trying to make the guesthouse seem inviting and welcoming. On Saturday afternoons I have a few hours to myself when my brother takes the children to his home. I am overwhelmed with options of what to do - play my nephew's Zelda game on the Wii U? Study french? Listen to music really loudly? Read a book? Watch a film? Meditate? - but my freedom seems over too soon when I spot my brother's car coming up the hill, bringing the children back home.
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no subject
on 2023-05-29 05:15 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2023-05-29 06:36 pm (UTC)Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in FAQ (https://www.dreamwidth.org/support/faqbrowse?faqid=303).
no subject
on 2023-06-01 10:37 am (UTC)I am relieved to hear it's settled into a manageable routine
no subject
on 2023-06-01 04:38 pm (UTC)