Mom's Trips to the Park and to the Bathroom

Mom seems to be enjoying our trips to the park more and more. When I first started taking her there, she said it was 好雜, or seedy. We sometimes see one or two people sleeping on park benches. She’s never raised concerns about anyone in particular. The weather now bordering on tropical, we see quite a few birds and butterflies. There were a few yellow crested cockatoos in the trees one afternoon. I wondered if they were freed or had escaped from captivity. I am relieved to see her take off her fleece. She needs it when there’s air conditioning and tends to keep it on even when we’ve gone outside and it’s sweltering. She walks around the playground and points to a kid or a bird that’s caught her eye once in a while. On my way home after visiting her, I often listen to the news or podcasts. So much has happened in the past few weeks. I haven’t checked in with her to see how much she’s picked up from watching the news on TV at the nursing home.

Trips to the bathroom continue to be a challenge. I’ve approached quite a few restaurant bathroom doors with wheelchair signs on them, only to find they’re used for storage. I’ve had to leave the folding door of a bathroom stall open so I could support her, which was a good move. I managed to catch her underarm as she fell. She had to walk up a steep flight of stairs to reach the bathroom at another restaurant.

The nursing home seems to have cameras with facial recognition set up. When I leave the nursing home with her, an alarm goes off. She’s usually restrained in her geri chair there. It remains to be seen how long she’ll be content with this arrangement as her mobility improves. I’ve told her I’m starting a new job tomorrow and may not be able to see her during the week.