Here’s a true flop as a Senior; Sheila.

She had planned on going to the theatre.  What she would wear, how she would do her hair;
until her daughter dumped a teething Bratica in her lap and went off for a weekend.

Now Sheila should have made herself seem incompetent to look after a child; (forget she
raised three of them).  Unfortunately, she hadn’t. Hence daughter is having a wonderful
weekend, she’s not.

Had Sheila put a little thought into her presentation, she’d be enjoying the theatre, not
going though the whole cry cry baby thing she’d done three times before.

What she ought have done is become irresponsible or  wacky.

If she’d filled her home pets, or moved to some distant location, took up a crazy hobby like
target shooting or become so involved in some organisation that she was rarely home,
Sheila would be enjoying her life.

If she’d learned to lock off her cell phone for days at a time, claiming to have ‘forgotten’ to
turn it on, talk about topics which bored her daughter to tears; then she would be out
galavanting, not a shut in.

Linda knew how to to push her daughter’s buttons. She decided to have liposuction. 
Carmine, who never could control her mouth, exclaimed at this waste of money. 
This, of course, put a wedge between Linda and Carmine which meant that she would
no longer be available for babysitting services.

There is a difference between wanting the grans to visit and, as Sheila, having the grandchild
thrust upon you as if you have no life.

Many children assume that their parents have no life, no plans, no dreams, because they are
old.  This attitude of superannuation is very harmful to the senior.  It hurts in a way that is
indescribable. 

It is not that the kids look up the parent and consider him or her the best person to look after
the children, wanting his or her wisdom to rub off, it is that the attitude that; ‘you have nothing
to do or to live for so that you should be happy I give you a task.’

Once the kids get away with this performance, they move to the point of deciding how and
where you should live, as the house is too big for you, or you can’t manage your affairs.

This will cut years from your life.

By making it seem to the kids that you are entering that second childhood where you can
disappear for a weekend to attend a seminar on Klingon language, or a political rally,
they will have to deal with you as a somewhat unknowable, unreliable commodity.

You will gain the kind of responsibility you had as a teenager but with the benefits of
not having parents to answer to.