Friday, April 15, 2016

Coming back to blogging after a long eventful time

I have been away from this blog for some time and we have had some big changes in our lives. We are now parents of two, not one. The pregnancy was hard and complicated and I nearly lost her more than once. I got thrown into trying to balance homeschool and life for my first child while having a baby then toddler.

We found our youngest is one of the growing number of children who have life threatening food allergies. Hers are so severe that she can be affected with airborne particles of the food. All of the sudden our diet and eating out habits changed and we had one anaphylatic episode. I have learned to be a vigilant ingredient reader, a health advocate for my toddler, and I can train anyone to administer an epi pen. I am glad we had already established our homeschool. I feel as though at least that rhythm was established when we got the news that it would be very hard for our youngest to attend a traditional school.

In 2013 my mother passed away suddenly, and my heart was broken for a long time. We were close and at the time I was pregnant with my second child, and I mourned the relationship she would never have with her grandmother. When she passed I noticed that my father might have some memory issues, but he was in his mid eighties and there is a certain amount of age related memory loss that is normal and expected. Then he was falling a lot. He was unable to keep up himself, his house, and was confused by tasks that were routine the month before.

It was obvious he needed help. The only problem is he did not want my help. He wanted his independence and freedom and would strike down all assistance I tried to line up for him. I now know this is all part of the dementia. Unfortunately our society is not set up to deal with the needs of the very elderly or dementia patients. The law said he was an adult and he could make poor decisions or not take proper care of himself as long as he did not hurt anyone else. Essentially the social programs that are in place to help people failed my father and many other elderly people.

This year he fell for the 20th time in a calendar year and he finally listened to the heeding of the doctors that he could no longer live alone. So now at almost 90 he lives with us. He seems to be adjusting well, and my children enjoy having him here.  I care for him and try to help him with the issues associated with his dementia.

The blog in the next few weeks and months will continue to include frugal food options, and homeschool tips and stories, but it will also include stories from our life.

As a family that has a tight budget
As a family that struggles with the challenges associated with life threatening food allergies
As a homeschool family that pulls from many resources
As a caregiver caring for some one with dementia and Alzheimers
As the family of a veteran working with the services available
As children of God trying to walk the plan he has laid out for us