I just re-read yesterday's post and realized I must have been very tired when I wrote it. Amazing what a weekend will do! I am taking Monday off too, so that will put me in an even better frame of mind.
My father taught me many things, and when I was a kid it was drilled into me to be careful with money, always save some if it, do not spend foolishly, and never spend your last dollar. These early lessons have stuck with me, and so has my father.
He is now 90 years old and is in many ways reverting back to simple, child-like ways. There is much evidence for this, and yet, I still see him as my father, a bit of an authority figure, and someone who still exemplifies those things that he taught me.
When I was a child, I would, on occasion, ask him for money. Now, he is asking me for money. I am telling him that there is no place to spend it in the care home. He counters with the fact that he has not had any cash in his pocket for many months now. "How would you feel if you had no money for six months?" he tells me. If I give him money, it will disappear, unaccounted for and end up either in the laundry or in some resident's or care worker's pocket, when they find it lying around.
I cannot get it through to him that this does not work, and yet he is persistent. I have a difficult time treating my dad like a kid, and yet I have to reprimand him and deny him as if he were one. This is different than teaching your child. Your child will learn a lesson for the betterment of his future, your aging parent will just carry resentment as the problem worsens.
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