I had a good chat with one of Maureen’s sons yesterday.  He made a salient point that could ease things here on several fronts.  His suggestion is to take control of things a little more on the care front.  It is possible that social services are so snowed under that they lack the capacity to provide the support we now need.

I must admit I have stayed away from having a Personal Buget and utilising Direct Payment.  I think I have got the wording right but possibly the new Care Act uses different terminology.  In short, all this means is that  we become quasi employers and hold our own budget to buy in the care we need.  It sounds even more work but if we have greater control over things it may be a sensible investment of time.

My plans to be a little more organised have already paid dividends.  Yesterday got off to a really good start with no tears, or difficulties, about finding suitable clothing.  I put out a small selection of clothing and Maureen decided what to wear without any difficulty.

Maureen also did exceptionally well yesterday completing lots of household tasks with minimal prompting. .  The only problem is stopping the woman once she is in full flow..   She just won’t let up when she can see something that needs doing.  My fear on such days is that she wears herself out so much that distress and confusion follow.

In fact I think the confusion that emerged early evening may have been the result of over exertion.  After a late evening stroll we returned home and started watching television.  We watched the Battle of Britain Anniversary celebrations for a while and Maureen seemed uncomfortable.  She kept turning to look at me; as if she was uncertain who I was.  When we began our bed time routine she was intially reluctant to share a bed with me.  She put forward a number of reasons why she should have a bed to herself, until eventually suggesting there was room for both of us in the marital bed.  The night passed peacefully apart from another early to bed early to rise routine for me.  Hence this rather early post

Rosie our new recruit will be here in four hours and it will be interesting to see how they get on together today.  After last week’s promising start I am optimistic that things will go well.  I will leave then to it and allow them to sort things out together.   As I am often advised by colleagues on Talking Point it is a time to ‘go with the flow’ and let their relationship develop..