It’s been about two weeks since we rearranged our home with everyone (save Gram) sleeping in the same room, so I thought I’d give a little update on how our crazy experiment is going.
In short, it’s been fabulous. While I am the first to admit that it is only a temporary solution to our space issues (we can’t sleep 5 in a room forever!), it is currently working out beautifully.
William’s sleep issues have all but abated. He still wakes up in the middle of the night sometimes, but is much easier to put back down. And the refusal to go to sleep at night, along with constantly coming out of his room is gone entirely. He’s sleeping much better at night, and thus, so are his parents.
The biggest beneficiary though, I think is Gram. It has been a game changer for us to have the classroom upstairs because it has meant that she is getting lots more attention and opportunities to be grounded in the present moment. It can be a difficult thing to keep her from losing herself in the past, and sometimes the dementia symptoms can get a little out of control when she’s left to herself for extended period. Having the classroom upstairs means the kids can take their work to the living room to show her and she can come into the classroom to see them. It means that William can take breaks he needs and have stories read to him cuddled on Gram’s lap. And G is highly motivated by having an audience when she works, so being able to have Gram observe her is hugely helpful.
It’s also meant that I have more time to focus on Gram, more touch points with her in a day, which translates to better care. I can be in and out of the room she’s in, and having regular brief conversations allows me to monitor her mental state and physical health more surreptitiously. She hates when we have to have a long conversation about her health or how much she’s eating and drinking, so the more I can do it without her noticing I am, the better.
For example, having more time with her last week meant that I was in a position to pick up quickly on the fact that her dementia symptoms took a sharp turn for the worse, a sure sign of a UTI in the elderly. Thankfully, by noticing it quickly, we were able to get a urine sample to the doctor right away (cheers to my mom for driving it over!), and get her on antibiotics before it had a chance to spiral into the level of infection that would land her in the hospital.