Far and Away

Great to hear @BlueBells .... 😄💕

Good to hear @BlueBells

@Former-Member .... hi from the travel thread ....

I just followed the same tagging method, just from this thread, and it sends you an email notification from here.

Hi @Faith-and-Hope 💖

What have you been up to today?

@Former-Member

My journey with mi is all about my husband. He is heavily in denial with an eating disorder, so the kids and I have been thrown into a carer role, which comes with a degree of circumstantial, or situational depression. It is really hard watching someone sink without the awareness that they are unwell, and hostile to the point of compromising their relationships.

So yes, the stepping stones analogy means a lot to all of us here. It actually came up on another thread where another artist is going to paint it as well, My husband's illness is taking us all on a recovery journey made up of baby steps.

We are recently back from a lengthy trip to Europe, and some of our kids paint too, so you can see that life is art and learning journey rolled together for us at the moment.

Hi @oceangirl. It was a slow day for me today. I took S2 (son 2) to a shopping centre this morning, and then stayed home the rest of the day ... cooking, a bit of clean up, a rest time to make up for being a bit short on sleep lately, then vegging and chatting on the forums the rest of the day. I did catch a Marina Prior concert on tv tonight too.

Just so appreciating WH (wayward husband) being away and not having my life micromanaged for a few weeks. I can see the kids starting to relax, eat properly, and their sleep patterns returning to normal. They were all in bed and sleeping by 9pm.

Heaven !

Hi @Faith-and-Hope 💖

Slow days are often good days, and its good to hear you have been able to catch up on some much needed sleep. You must feel a bit more relaxed since WH has gone back to Europe. Its good the kids are feeling more comfortable & relaxed too.

I was not on the forum much this afternoon, I went to the gym & pool and then drove down the coast to have dinner with my parents. I tried to have a discussion with my Dad about going into hospital but it didn't even register with him. I have decided I am not going to say anything more about it until I get down to Sydney or on my return home- I think its better handled this way and I arrive at the hospital relaxed.

Most of the day my dad spends exercising- walks and swims and paddles his paddleboard- he is in his 70's heading closer to 80. He is good at micromanaging too. Its often seen as love and care not necessary controlling behaviours but part of a bigger problem.

Good night @Faith-and-Hope ☺💖

Oops ... haha ... dozed off for a bit there .....

It must be really hard feeling like your Dad doesn't really hear you @oceangirl, and perhaps can't relate to what you are going through. I know there is something like that happening with WH and the kids, but sometimes he does hear them and is compassionate and understanding and offers wonderful advice. When I described to my BroIL some of WH's behaviours, he responded with "Yeah ? You're describing how our father was with us there ... I never imagined WH would behave that way ...." so that gave me a clear indication that some of what he is going through relates to his dad, and the lack of relationship there. I don't think WH realises he is swinging, but when he is in a micro-managing state, it is actually his mother's controlling words that are coming out of his mouth ....

The family don't believe in the validity of psychologists .... and yet one day WH turned around and said "I would be a psychologist's dream !" .... meaning himself, and showing some self-awareness that his behaviours would be up for questioning. When I repeated this to the psychologist I go to see for support, he muttered, "Psychologist's nightmare, more like ...." which is again enlightening .... it indicates that WH's issues are very deep and complex. I expect he will need hospitalisation, but I try not to think too far ahead. Baby steps ... we're not on that page at the moment.

Sounds like your dad has his own inner wolf he is trying to outrun. I hope it's okay to say that .... I may have missed you now tonight, and will catch up with you tomorrow if that's the case.

@Former-Member It's okay if I have already said that about the stepping stones. There is a lot of tollerance here for people just stepping into threads and picking up the conversation where they land .... 😊 .... it's part of the nature of the forums.

It sounds like your other half is in a carer role with you if I read that right ... and if so, she loves you very much.

The stepping stone painting is mine.

We were predominantly in Greece, but travelled extensively in the UK and a few other stops in Europe. If you have time to keep scrolling back through the thread you will find we have had some truly amazing experiences. We are living a life of extremes, but it has its intensely beautiful moments for which I am very grateful, but it is also incredibly bitter-sweet.