Sometimes retirement for a "grand_____" raising a "grand______" can be more like having a new profession - very stressful. This is especially true when the little one has a plethora of therapy appointments and activities. I may be home much of the day, but between running errands and supporting Gabe's needs, and working part-time in a professional position it sure doesn't feel like it! It wouldn't be so bad, but the State of Idaho has added a new level of bureaucracy for getting transportation. What this means is a parent is just out of luck when it comes to a last minute logistical hitch - unless they have the money to pay for a cab. Most do not, to be sure. It takes more than a week for transportation to be set up for just one appointment per week. A.M.R. in Idaho has cut down on the transportation budget for people with disabilities by making it so difficult to get transportation that many have probably just given up on their kids' or clients' services due to lack of A.M.R.'s interest in their needs. I still have not heard what A.M.R. is being paid by the state for distressing the poor and disabled. Idaho now has the distinction of not only cutting their teachers' pay and classroom supply money to pay for student laptops, but also of balancing the state budget on the backs of the penniless and infirm.
This is not new for Idaho, of course. Shortening the hours of intensive therapy available to children 7 years and older to 6 or less hours per week from 22 hours per week, and to 12 hours per week from 22 hours per week for younger kids, has also balanced the State Health and Welfare budget on the backs of their clients. Well, what do we expect? Less government is what the majority voted for, and less government is what they are getting - including some mentally ill people who are dangerous being let out on the streets to injure and kill - all in the name of cutting spending. How many of us would like to have a family member killed or killing others because the State did not have enough money to treat someone or to at least keep someone dangerous off the streets?
On our family's side of things, I have found myself becoming very confused over Gabe's appointments and transportation at times, and it would have been a lot easier if I could have called the transportation company directly, like we used to do. The other day one of my own clients had their service coordinator call me and request I switch my appointment with that client to another day. This was because of a new appointment conflict within the family. I immediately told the lady that we could switch to another day. No problem, I said. Ah - yes. Ahem. And after I hung up the phone I realized the implications of all this. I would now have to take Gabe to his appointment on that day, and I would have to find someone to take him on the other day each week while I worked with my client.
It was a busy day and as I drove around from place to place I found myself calling A.M.R. to have them change Gabe's transportation to the specified day. What I forgot was that there was no way I would be able to change his appointment to that other day. It seemed so simple, too. Well, eventually I called A.M.R. (they are in Boise, not in town here), and completely cancelled all transportation for Gabe. I also called our friend who said she would baby sit him for us on the other day. She insists on picking him up at school and not having tax payer money do that. And she now has him two days a week.
I never realized what it was going to be like to be a Mr. Mom and manage all of this. My respect for our nation's mothers has grown immensely over the past few months, and especially with this last episode. How they do all of this I may never know. I just know it is stressful and complex. It is about time I learned about all this. I am thinking that Claudia is getting a lot of laughs out of all this - at my expense. But that is okay. What are husbands and fathers for anyway, if not for getting at least some humor out of our feeble attempts to manage what our wives have done almost effortlessly for years!
This is not new for Idaho, of course. Shortening the hours of intensive therapy available to children 7 years and older to 6 or less hours per week from 22 hours per week, and to 12 hours per week from 22 hours per week for younger kids, has also balanced the State Health and Welfare budget on the backs of their clients. Well, what do we expect? Less government is what the majority voted for, and less government is what they are getting - including some mentally ill people who are dangerous being let out on the streets to injure and kill - all in the name of cutting spending. How many of us would like to have a family member killed or killing others because the State did not have enough money to treat someone or to at least keep someone dangerous off the streets?
On our family's side of things, I have found myself becoming very confused over Gabe's appointments and transportation at times, and it would have been a lot easier if I could have called the transportation company directly, like we used to do. The other day one of my own clients had their service coordinator call me and request I switch my appointment with that client to another day. This was because of a new appointment conflict within the family. I immediately told the lady that we could switch to another day. No problem, I said. Ah - yes. Ahem. And after I hung up the phone I realized the implications of all this. I would now have to take Gabe to his appointment on that day, and I would have to find someone to take him on the other day each week while I worked with my client.
It was a busy day and as I drove around from place to place I found myself calling A.M.R. to have them change Gabe's transportation to the specified day. What I forgot was that there was no way I would be able to change his appointment to that other day. It seemed so simple, too. Well, eventually I called A.M.R. (they are in Boise, not in town here), and completely cancelled all transportation for Gabe. I also called our friend who said she would baby sit him for us on the other day. She insists on picking him up at school and not having tax payer money do that. And she now has him two days a week.
I never realized what it was going to be like to be a Mr. Mom and manage all of this. My respect for our nation's mothers has grown immensely over the past few months, and especially with this last episode. How they do all of this I may never know. I just know it is stressful and complex. It is about time I learned about all this. I am thinking that Claudia is getting a lot of laughs out of all this - at my expense. But that is okay. What are husbands and fathers for anyway, if not for getting at least some humor out of our feeble attempts to manage what our wives have done almost effortlessly for years!
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