Clock watching

Replies

By loopy

Re: Clock watching
Sat 5 Jul 2008 10:55

ha ha !! i am early fortys and i am constantly clock watching!!!! i get fed up of it at times. I have an autistic child and she goes by the clock rigidly otherwise all hell breaks loose!!! my life is revolved around her needs , work, housework, cooking ,bill paying, washing, etc etc...

By fenlander

Re: Clock watching
Sat 5 Jul 2008 16:55

I can't stand it either! When my husband recently became paralysed, I was told that everything would be easier when we got "our routine sorted"! This depressed me so much because I can't stand routine!
It is hard being a full time carer for him and our two Autistic boys, but the only way I have found to not be ruled by the clock and routine is to do everything for ourselves. So I stopped the District nurses coming in in the morning and cared for him by myself. Independence meant we could set our own timetable as we saw fit each day.
The good thing is that the boys have stepped up to the mark, are much less demanding now,do more for themselves and much more around the house! I wouldn't have thought it possible before. In many ways we are all much happier now because we are more united.

By Dibble

Re: Clock watching
Sun 6 Jul 2008 23:36

My Mum is in respite at the moment, hence I have a chance to catch up with this site. She is coming home tomorrow & I have missed her loads & am really looking forward to having her back though I too hate running by the clock 24/7 seven days a week. As I know all of you will appreciate, he thing I most value about respite breaks is being able to throw routine out of the window for a week. We run like a small army here & it is so stressful. But I can cope with that. However, what drives me completely nuts is that my Mum looks at her watch at least 40 times an hour! I am very organised indeed but her clock watching makes me not want to do anything.at all. I think it is her way of trying to maintain control & I try to be patient but honestly I wish there were no clocks in this house. I end up saying to my Mum "Oh you'd better phone ITV & tell them to put Coronation Street on, else they might forget if you don't remind them of the time ..!" On a better day she'll laugh too but actually it really is a serious problem. One taxi driver refuses to take her to her weekly day centre as her constant clock watching made him anxious & some family have stopped visting Mum as they find it rude. Sadly at 82, Mum doesn't see it as a problem, so there's no hope of her changing ... I just have to learn how to cope with it. Look it's 11.36PM & I have to go to bed & get up to collect Mum at 10AM!!! Must rush!