Topsy Turvy day.

My ups and downs haven't had anything to do with hubby today - for a change lol.

Middley came home from her school trip, and I've missed her like mad. So have the others although they wouldn't admit to it. The three of them have had their bickering session, so I know that all is well lol. Hubby likes them home, he likes to know where they are so when Biggey goes away for her school trip he'll miss her like mad too - although he'd never say it...

On the topic of Biggey, she brought home a fabulous Swiss Roll today. Honestly, I've never produced a Swiss Roll to the standard (if you scroll down you'll see a photo of it) and I'm so proud of it. Where she struggles with academia, she more than makes up for it in practicle. She's doing really well at cadets too, only has to pass the shooting range and she's onto the next level. I've been assured there's no way she can fail this. "Even if she shoots her own foot?" I asked. "She'd have to be going some" their response was "she's lying down..." "oh - Good oh" lol. I am very proud of my little cadet :o)

Now then. This is where my down comes in. I used to be a bury my head in the sand kind of person when it came to Dementia. I would take it as it comes, and deal with things as they arose. I knew things were going on in the background, but aslong as they were going on and getting done and were there when I needed them to be there then I was happy with that. Selfish - Yes. As I appear to be with most things I write about, but dealing on a day to day basis was really all I could handle at the time. I now feel like a sleeping tiger that's been woken. The nurse that has been in court accused of horrific offences against dementia patients (https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/10426706.Nurse_faces_being_struck_off_after_mistreating_patients/?ref=twtrec) and the ensuing debate about whether she should be allowed to nurse again has ruffled my feathers severely. If a mechanic didn't fix the breaks on a car and then there was an accident would they be allowed to be a mechanic? If a chef poisoned someone would they be allowed to continue chefing? If a teacher did something with a pupil that they shouldn't do would they be allowed to continue teaching? I DON'T THINK SO. Sufferers from this illness are not put into homes because their families want a holiday or they can't be bothered with their loved ones. They trust the homes. They trust the staff. They have to. They trust them to show their loved ones care, compassion, respect, empathy and dignity. If someone had done this to my husband, father of my children, son to my in-laws, I'd be hunting them down and ensuring that the book was going to be thrown at them (and I'd make sure it was a bloody heavy book). If they don't want to show these emotions, or even common courtesy then there are other jobs that they could do - like be a light house keeper. I'm a great believer in Kharma. What goes around comes around. This is why I speak to people as I would like to be spoken to. I treat people how I would like to be treated myself. That doesn't mean that I'm a push over. Push me and you'll find that out, it just means that I have courtesy. Manners cost nothing (as @WandererKirsty and I were blethering about on Twitter today), and they go a long, long way. 

This nurse (for want of a better word) might think differently if it were her mother, father, son, daughter or heaven forbid herself that were relying on the help of others. You wouldn't treat a dog the way she treated her patients, and it makes me sick to think that there are others out there doing the same.

There are wonderful people out there in the caring community. They work their socks off (my sister in law is one of them and my mother in law used to), and no, they don't get the breaks they need, or the money they deserve, but by Christ they'd have something to say if a member of staff they were working with behaved like this. Carers need a medal the size of a frying pan and all it takes is one bad egg and everyone is tarred with the same brush. Shame on them.

I'd like to say a big thank you to all of the wonderful dr's, nurses and social workers that we have come across - you truly are all round good eggs, and without them I think I'd have jumped in the river with concrete shoes on. 

Never lose sight of the fact that the most important yardstick of your success will be how you treat other people - your family, friends, and coworkers, and even strangers you meet along the way.
Barbara Bush 
... and I never thought I'd be "cue"uoting (bloody "cue" button) Barbera Bush... lol xx