Sands of Time

OK, this is one of those wacky pictures that I am probably alone in thinking that it's anything but weird. If you can't tell, it is the beach, and sea (or bay) foam. And it has nothing to do with this post, as is getting to be a habit. Unless you call the picture "Sands of Time".

I am asking you ladies for advise. You all seem very capable of giving good, sound advise.

My I begin by saying my parents have a computer that they turn on every 3-6 months, and don't even know what a blog is. So there is no way they will stumble across this.

How do you handle aging parents? My mother is a young 73, very capable woman. I would say she lives in a 55ish body and mind. My father is another story. He is 79 and is living in a 79-year-old body and mind. He has been diagnosed with early Alzheimers, and has dementia. He is "with-it" and normal most of the time. But there are times when he goes off his rocker. It's not pretty. He is getting a bit unruly. He has been told by his docs not to drive anymore. He does anyway. He actually went somewhere to pick walnuts, and didn't even wear his shoes and didn't realize it until someone else brought it to his attention. (We did get a good laugh at that one!) But he is just not safe to drive. He will try to get off exits that don't exist, and run red lights and say that it would not have been safe to try and stop. He runs into things, scratches the car, gets lost, etc, etc.

The problems are:

1. My mom has always been very laid back, never says no to my dad, and lets him do whatever he wants. To avoid getting him too upset.

2. They keep my son.

My dad has no problem putting my son in the car and driving wherever with him. Including interstate, 2-3 hours away for doc appts. My mom is OK with this. I'm not. Been there, fought about that. Last week, my dad accused my son of doing something that he did not do. My son said that dad was in his face, waving his arms around, screaming at him, and had him cornered. My son was afraid. I asked my mom about this, and it was apparently just as bad as my son had said it was. I need to come up with another plan for him. He can probably start staying home by himself some now (Oh, that is making me cringe). But, he is 13 1/2. Gotta start cutting the cord sometime. Start.

I have to tell my mother, who is completely able to keep the new baby when he arrives, that I have to make other arrangements. Because of dad. I don't know how to tell her. That is going to be a big slap to her. But I don't feel safe leaving my big son there, so I really don't feel safe leaving a helpless baby there!

Again, I ask for HELP!! Please don't worry, I don't plan on asking ya'll for help for everything in my life. Really, I don't. But yesterday and today, I am. So, I'm needy sometimes....