Of Disabilities and Injuries by Konnie Enos

 

I know I’ve mentioned how my daughter has been taking over the stay-at-home-mom chores around here. Recently we managed to convince my youngest that she could not do this alone and he has become her right-hand man.

Yeah, things are getting done regularly.

Then life happens.

First, my daughter got costochondritis (inflammation, in this case in her ribcage). The doctor’s orders are rest and no heavy lifting. Nothing that causes her more pain.

Little brother picks up as much slack as he can, and I’m trying to do more as my schedule allows. She still needs more rest and isn’t better yet.

My son, as usual, complains, but he does make efforts to increase what he is doing to pick up the slack.

Then what happens?

While doing his usual running at night, he trips over a dog and bangs his knee into the wall.

Now in our house dislocations are rather common and those that have them just put the joint back into place then wait until the pain subsides before going about their business again, usually a matter of minutes. However, now and again, it’s serious.

By yesterday afternoon my son is visibly limping and his knee is swollen and painful to the touch. I take him to be seen. What does the doctor tell him? Rest, elevate, and ice. Also, no weight bearing for as much as a week and only as tolerated. He gave him crutches. He will also need further examination to know the extent of the damage.

So now he and his sister are out of commission.

There are still three other people living here.

My oldest daughter still at home can’t deal with excess stress. She will spiral into the abyss when stressed. Between her college classwork and the chores she can and does do, she can’t handle anymore.  So she will continue to feed the dogs, take out the garbage, and wipe high contact surfaces with disinfectant wipes regularly.

Hey, every little bit helps.

Due to physical limitations, I can’t reach anything below my waist or above my head. I’m also working full-time. So my chores are wiping down the table and counters, finances (i.e.: paying the bills). I also do dishes and cook dinner when it’s my turn. (My currently out of commission son and daughter usually take their turns with both those chores.) I can only manage dishes on my days off.

Now doing dishes with of those nifty machines designed to clean dishes isn’t a taxing chore. We do not have a working dishwasher. As you can imagine, doing the dishes only twice a week would not be a good thing.

Of course, I have not eliminated all members of the household yet. We are a family of five.

So there is yet one household member who has no physical or time limitations on doing chores. Someone physically capable of scrubbing toilets, sweeping, mopping, washing, drying, and putting away dishes, wiping down all kitchen surfaces, even taking out the garbage and feeding all the dogs. And, even though he does none of it, he is capable of cooking a few things. In other words, the only chore he isn’t capable of doing is staying on top of the finances and paying the bills.

What chores does he do?

Well, he makes sure his largest dog is fed. He also does some of the chauffeuring and is generally the one who fills the gas tank and makes sure the car is in working order.

What he rarely does is any of the indoor chores and then it’s only a few dishes. Nothing else.

What is his reason for not doing anything else?

His chore is bringing in the money to pay all those bills.

How does he bring in all that money? He is receiving VA and SSD. Yes, he worked hard before he got his disability but just because he is very justifiably unable to hold down a job, doesn’t mean he is unable to do chores.

I only have two and a half weeks left of work (temporary job). So I can just see the mess this house is going to be in for the rest of this month while I try to work full-time and keep up with what chores I can since I’m certain my husband will not step up and pick up some of the slack.

This means, of course, for the next two and half weeks dishes and cooking dinner won’t be done daily. Most likely only a couple of times a week.

So for the next three of four weeks (while my children heal), our house is going to be a disaster.

And life goes on.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.