She shifted in her seat awkwardly, reaching her wizened hands out to scoop a piece of stir-fried beef from the green plate before her. Seeing the pathetic amount she was giving herself, I urged her on to take more, but she refused. I persisted, advancing to reach out to offer her a generous scoop. She then became adamant and rejected it, telling me to have it myself. Of course, I gave up and shifted my attention to mixing my own bowl of bibimbap.
Well I've come to realise that as people grow older, they become increasingly stubborn. For one, they feel that they should not "trouble" you at all and us youngsters should just go on living our spoiled lives. I mean, we are here to care for our elderly and provide the best living conditions for them, yet some of them continue to be adamant and do not accept this at all.
She thinks that she should not sit with the family on the sofa and the armchairs when we have some together-time during the weeknights. We have enough space, I insist. Dad told her to not be so polite. Or whatever that is going through her mind. Well, she humbled herself enough to sit on the edge of the green armchair one day, but when I took my homework to the coffee table to do, she began to get up from her chair and proceeded to move to the side of the hall and sit on the wooden floor. Seeing this, I was kinda confused, so I asked her where she was going. She told me flatly that she didn't wanna disrupt my study time. And I was kinda offended, so I started explaining to her that no matter where she sat, she was not going to be a potential distraction at all.
She has this super weird reasoning with us. Sometimes her excuse would be that she doesn't want to dirty the chair or something, thats why she doesn't wanna sit on it. I can't really understand the kind of thinking she has about things, and her being overly-conscious and overly-humble about things at home. She's trying to get used to it I know, but maybe she's being a tad too difficult?
I always find Dad having to nag at her for the simplest things. Little stuff like sitting properly at the dinner table, pushing her chair in so that she'd be sitting comfortably during the meal. And I also always find Mum having to nag at her too. Questioning her as to why she has to make herself lug an extremely huge and heavy melon all the way from pasir ris, on the bus, and why she has to buy a new loaf of bread even when the fresh one's still unopen in the bread box.
How stubborn can one really get as age engulfs us? It seems that time makes one more stubborn than a disobedient child, as one chooses to believe in his/her own mindset instead of opening up alternatives that people around provide. This usually results in a hell lot of nagging, scolding, and unwanted reactions from the younger generation. Can this be helped in any way?
So do I like living with an older, stubborn member of the family? I'm trying to get used to it, I mean, she's not irritating me lah, but I guess it takes time.
And yes, I've been talking about my paternal grandmother coming to stay with us since 2 weeks ago. It seems like shes coming here to stay quite permanently, till end year I guess.
+
The Scoop
Andre
The lost boy.
You don't wear my chains
Black and white photography
Pop art
Silhouettes and shadows
Green hues and earthy tones
Good Music
Reality TV
Vacations
The Coveted
Spanking new Tigers! New Digicam
Bagpacking trip to India in 2007
I'm Yours Jason Mraz
Amie Damien Rice
Forecast Fascist Future Of Montreal
Umbrella Rihanna
Don't Leave The Light On Baby Belle & Sebastian
Summer Skin Death Cab For Cutie
