going visiting little nanny always seems like stepping back in time. i have been to that house at least several times a year all my 40 years, and often more! it breathes memories to me and wraps me up in the childhood experience, and i feel loved and not in charge! though more and more i am in charge when i go, so that it all goes smoothly.
my parents were there today as well, doing a variety of jobs for nanny and a pre-xmas visit, as she is with aunty margaret this year. so the plan was we would arrive just before lunch, and we would have lunch out as a treat. so bb did a wee in the car 
she hasn’t done that for AGES, so we had no spare anythings, so on arrival chris nipped [well, it was chris, so not that nippy i guess!] to woollies [that will be a hole in the high street] and bought emergency clothes. whilst he was out, the girls played, sb playing several hands of rummy, and bb just being bb!
we went out and unfortunately i ordered wrong thing for bb [her fav of jack pot and beans rather than the macaroni cheese that sb had ] so she wailed stropped and generally did my head in! i do prefer being in charge, and taking the meal ready there. oh well, it was a nice idea, and once we had agreed a compromise – thanks to SB – of each having half the jacket pot and bb having 1/3 macaroni chees, and them both having unlimited chips off my plate – as they were funny dipped chips that came with an otherwise nice spicy veggieburger – we were fine! oh, except sb’s meal came with a child thingy and bb’s didn’t. luckily the till lady took pity on us, and bb got a kung fu panda gift as well [this post seems to have a lot of so far!]
anyway, back to nanny’s [after a minor lost key disaster - found, in the car 
] and then settled to playing. sb and i played junior monopoly with little nanny [she won] and mum played guess who with bb. all good happy times. sb shew off her ballet skills, and bb sang. we reminisced a bit, and i tried to meddle with little nanny – but only gently, and v gently, as always, she told me she was in charge. but she does know she has a home here if ever required. i think the length of time that offer is required is drawing much shorter.
dad and chris did jobs – bless them – so def not worthy of an alesha dixon song! [as blogged on the manor born] they drilled a hole [it took about 2 hours!!!] and moved the freezer. my dad seemed particularly tetchy today. which is unusual, though he finds a prolonged stay at little nanny’s difficult [he tends to the recluse really] and he firmly believes the time has come for her to leave her home and live somewhere sheltered, primarily due to the amount of stress it puts mum under, racing too and fro. i do think nanny is now living there by the skin of her teeth – ie its ok, but she finds shopping and getting out near impossible, so is lonely. and if she lived somewhere sheltered near one of the 3 of us, so we could pop in most days, i am sure she would be happier. but, it is most clearly her choice, and she is managing – but with a lot of visits and we all live distant [i am closest] and feel guilty for not going more often. aarghh. but i do strongly believe it is her right to chose this, so…
anyway, it was lovely to see her and have fun altogether and hear about old times and her enjoy having 3 generations with her.
Yeah, but it wouldn’t have taken so long if I’d been allowed to drill a bigger hole in the first place..
My DIY mottoes:
Hit it harder or make a bigger hole
The time to move out of your home part is so difficult isn’t it. My Nana has just moved (last week) from the masisonette she has lived in for much longer than my lifetime into a wardened flat. This now means she can have meals in the communal lounge if she wants to, so sees people. But is in a self contained flat, so doesn’t have to. They have ‘stuff’ going on through the week. She can still come and go as she pleases. She can go out to the shops if she wants. There is someone there that knocks on her door everyday just to say hello and check she is OK. This all took a lot of pursuading though initially, and a long time in planning, she was on a waiting list for nearly a year. Now she has done it she is thrilled! She has a new social life.
i wish we could persuade, but don’t think we will. she is adamant she will be removed in a box. and now she has been told her cancer has spread a lot, she feels there is no point.
The decider for my Nana was the stairs. She had stairs she just couldn’t really manage any more, and she had one day when she had hurt herself upstairs and was stuck in her room unable to move and ended up sitting on her bed soiling herself because she couldn’t get to the toilet
(though why she didn’t press the panic button she has is a whole other issue!) So yes, stairs were the thing. Now she doesn’t have any. My other grandparents on the other hand will not be moved at all, and both yoyo from home to hospital without ever managing to recover properly as it takes so much effort to look after themselves at home. I guess sometime fairly soon they just won’t make it back from hospital and will go straight into respite, or not at all 
Argh getting old is so hard, even with lots of family support around you. Makes me so sad thinking about those with nobody.
our village has a well organised adopt a granny type scheme [under a genlter title!] where people pop in and see whats needed – mind you, my nan would send them away too. she is *very* determined to be independant to the last.
she still manages the stairs oK, and we have put a commode in the bedroom for emergency use.
nan won’t put in a panic button, nor will she allow us to adapt her bathroom – as it may damage reslae value of house
but i do love her, and her always feisty and make doing. she is a v good role model – up to the point of not going to live near one of us!
ooo my nana would not want an adopt a granny person checking on her! Took much much much much nagging to get her to allow a home help go in a couple of times a week to help her with the washing and cleaning. Even then she doesn’t always let them in. She had the panic button to stop us nagging her, but wouldn’t use it. I do admire her self responsability, and motivation to look after herself and not allow herself to become unable. My parents have offered her space at theirs, but she would be too far from the place she really knows and has lived for the last 30 years.
our nans sound very similar