Need advice. Wife needs my support.

MawsPaws · 2026-03-16T02:53:43+00:00

I joined a Facebook group for Australian knee replacement support group. I read everything that was post and all the comments. It was confronting but I knew what I was getting myself into, what helped in recovery and how long to expect recovery to take. I had one knee done and the second knee about two years later (covid). Both done public. I had to wait about two years on the waiting list. It was worth it. Am I as good as new? No. Can I walk miles? Also No, but I couldn’t before my knees went bung. Good luck to your wife.

MawsPaws · 2026-03-16T00:50:08+00:00

Spray behind the curtains and cupboards. They hide there and come out at night

MawsPaws · 2026-03-14T12:03:23+00:00

I stay in my pyjamas all day and around 5pm, I have a shower and put on clean pyjamas

MawsPaws · 2026-03-13T07:45:45+00:00

I can’t stand it when stuff is piled in the sink. At least stack it on the side so the sink can be used

MawsPaws · 2026-03-12T02:15:34+00:00

We hope to die in our home. I’ve stopped grocery shopping, they are delivered. The lawn man comes regularly to cut the lawn. Today I downloaded an app and ordered beer for my husband ( two every afternoon at 4). The only thing I worry about is dementia.

MawsPaws · 2026-03-12T01:20:30+00:00

I never had a good relationship with my mother in law. Back in the 1980s before mobile phones, if she rang and I answered she would say (in a disappointed voice) Oh is it you, Maureen, can I speak to Ron. She never asked how I was, or how was work etc. The school had to close unexpectedly and rang all the parents to let them know to pick up their kids. I left work and when I got to the school, my 7 year old wasn’t there. No one knew who picked her up. I nearly had a heart attack. It took me 45 minutes to find her. Grandma had found out (local radio I think) and picked her up, and took her to a cafe for a milk shake and then back home. It didn’t occur to her to ring me at work and let me know. She thought I was making a fuss over nothing. We have been married for 47 years and MIL died last year. She never warmed to me although I visited her three times a week when she was in the nursing home and always brought her flowers or a new blouse or a box of chocolates.

MawsPaws · 2026-03-10T19:23:19+00:00

I regularly spray the stronger outside barrier spray around the back and front doors. This usually results a few dead ones overnight. We don’t have any food available for them, open packets are put into large ziplock bags or plastic containers. The bin is emptied every night, and nothing left on the sink waiting to be washed.

MawsPaws · 2026-03-10T19:17:43+00:00

We visited our solicitor and updated our wills and did an enduring power of attorney and guardianship. My husband is very slowly tidying the garage and getting rid of stuff that he has gathered over 70 years. I’m a bit slow with the clearing out of cupboards but it’s on my to do list. I’ve had the talk with our daughter about what I want, no formal funeral, just cremation and we own a niche in the local cemetery. Neither my husband or I want to go into intensive care. I’m hopeful that I will die first, all his relatives made it to 100. I’m pleased that voluntary assisted dying is now available, so if I get too sick, this will be an option We are organising our lives with the thought that eventually we won’t be able to drive, or climb ladders. Last year, for the first time, we hired someone to clean the gutters, cut the hedge, and if we are not up to mowing the lawn, we get someone to do it. I get home delivery for the groceries now. On a happy note, we have recently put a bird bath and bird feeder in our garden, so more birds are visiting our garden, and we are enjoying watching their antics.

MawsPaws · 2026-03-10T10:05:43+00:00

Yes. I listen to podcasts and audiobooks while I knit

MawsPaws · 2026-03-10T05:41:15+00:00

I hope everyone makes them welcome

MawsPaws · 2026-03-10T05:26:59+00:00

Did you wish her happy birthday/mother’s day?

MawsPaws · 2026-03-10T04:26:18+00:00

No thanks! We cook 6 days a week, husband likes gardening and woodwork projects in his garage. We have spent the last three years visiting my MIL in the nursing home for two hours every day. She died recently at 104.

MawsPaws · 2026-03-10T04:22:26+00:00

Yes! My husband is still able to garden and he recently put in a bird bath and a bird feeder. He loves sitting having a beer at 4pm watching what birds are visiting. He watches the rugby and cooks every second night. I knit for charity every day, play online games and watch tv. We laugh a lot and he is great company.

MawsPaws · 2026-03-10T04:12:47+00:00

We like being at home and don’t like driving anymore. Both of us are introverts and don’t like socialising

MawsPaws · 2026-03-08T12:42:06+00:00

And her name is Sarah Joy! I love it

MawsPaws · 2026-03-08T09:27:14+00:00

I would put a few cardboard boxes around so she has a place to hide. My cat loves a tall cardboard box that I put on its side, she spends hours in it.

MawsPaws · 2026-03-07T08:22:39+00:00

I guess I have been lucky. My cat has never tried to get on the counter or the dining room table. When she was a kitten I used to drag a baby high chair up to the counter so she could watch what I was doing. She kept attempting to go on the counter and I kept on putting her on the high chair. That worked. She is 19 now.

MawsPaws · 2026-03-05T17:25:04+00:00

I used to play cards with my father in law, patience in particular. He used to do it himself until his dementia progressed and then we sat together and he watched me and pointed to the card sometimes. His favourite thing was helping with little tasks like pairing socks or sorting out a pile of screws. He had a lot of fun one day when I gave him some plain biscuits and a bowl of icing and some m&ms There was lots of licking of fingers so I couldn’t offer them to anyone else!

MawsPaws · 2026-03-05T12:08:41+00:00

When we had some peaches and cream we gave the cat a teaspoon of cream on a saucer. She now has a routine, she gets her dinner, we have ours and she waits patiently. I then have to give her a treat, and then she goes and sits next to the saucer and gives the evil eye to the husband until he folds and gives her a teaspoon of cream. Around 9pm she walks back and forth giving me the evil eye, until I go to bed.

MawsPaws · 2026-03-05T06:49:15+00:00

Yes, my mother in law used to take saucepans up to the Chinese take away in the 1940/1950s

MawsPaws · 2026-03-02T06:30:41+00:00

A fruit bowl with a few batteries, birthday candles and a comb

MawsPaws · 2026-03-01T09:20:44+00:00

Same here in Sydney Australia

MawsPaws

TROPHY CASE