(Originally posted in Facebook on March 19, 2019)
Routine. As boring and dull as it sounds, for someone dealing with the challenges M is facing, routines are a very good thing. He depends on his routines and I forget that. I can take changes in stride and it isn’t that easy for him.
We’re leaving tomorrow to visit our younger son in Los Angeles. We’re both excited and looking forward to this visit – we haven’t seen him since Thanksgiving. But traveling is going to be a change from our daily routine and I am beginning to see how this is throwing M for a loop.
Last night, when I got home, I suggested that we start gathering our clothes together for the trip. I wanted to make sure we didn’t need to get any laundry done before we left and to try to avoid those “I forgot to pack underwear” trips to WalMart that I’m famous for when we land.
M was great, getting his outfits together, but then he turned to me and asked, “Are we leaving tomorrow?” I assured him we were still leaving Wednesday, that I was simply trying to get an early start on our packing.
Later in the evening, he asked what time we needed to leave for the airport. As we talked about what time the flight was leaving and how early we should get there, he said that I would need to call his boss, Ashley, on Wednesday morning and let her know what time he would be leaving work.
What?
We went back and forth a couple of times with:
“What are you talking about?”
“What are YOU talking about?”
Before I finally stopped and asked “Don’t you have Wednesday off work? You told me you had asked for this time off.”
He thought about it for a few seconds, then his face cleared and he said, “Oh yeah. That’s right. Never mind.” And that was the end of it. He assured me that he DID ask for the time off to go on this trip and that there was nothing to worry about.
There’s a part of me that wants to believe him. And a part of me that wants to check behind him and make sure he’s taken care of this with his boss. I honestly feel as though I’m between a rock and a very hard place – and I’m not enjoying this AT ALL!