Caregiving Monday: The Loss of Patience

beauty salon     The other day I took GG* {my grandmother} to get her hair fixed.

The drive to the beautician takes all of two minutes.  Her appointment was at 11am, but GG believes in being early.  At 10:30 she began out the door and I explained to her we still had twenty minutes before we needed to leave.

Once we arrived at the beautician, I told them to give me a call when I needed to pick her up.  I returned to her house and cleaned up.  {The best time to clean is when she isn’t there}.

When they called me to pick her up, I told them I had to finish making the bed and wiping out the sink and I would be there.  Ten minutes later I arrive, to which GG remarks, “It’s about time.”

“She just told me she’s losing patience,” the beautician told me.

“Be patient,” I reminded her.   patience

“I don’t have to,” she said. I just stared at her, wondering if she was 90 or 2 years old.  She reminded me of my young niece and nephew in that moment.

What I realized was that as people grow older they lose the patience they have gained over the years.  The slightest thing often bothers them and they want things right then when they want them.  Sort of the same way a 2-5 year old wants to demand their own way.

In what way{s} have you noticed your loved on losing patience?

*Name altered

 

Tweetables:

Older people often lose their patience

How older people want their own way

How older people and toddlers are similar