My husband’s father is a sick man in every sense of the word. He used to be a professor, but he has been retired for more than seven years. He sits at home, he has nothing to do. Before he didn’t have time for his grandchildren, but now he does, but he still has that streak of a teacher who only teaches his children, not treats them like grandchildren. But the grandchildren don’t like that. They’re just kids, they want to go out, not sit and memorize things with their grandfather.
It turns out they don’t want to sit with him, and the father-in-law is lonely. He is used to being in constant communication, surrounded by interested people, but here he is all alone. That’s probably why he asked his son if we can start living together, but I am against it. So are the kids. The four of us live just fine, and I don’t want to shack up for my father-in-law’s company. I don’t want to move in with him either.
He may resent it, but we already have our own family. And my son visits him often enough as it is. Lately he’s even been too much. All I hear is, “Daddy’s not well, I’ll go and see him.”
I suspect that my father felt the ground, realized that he was being visited because he was not feeling well, and now he lies about it every other day. Well, a seemingly healthy person can’t be sick that much. But so far it doesn’t bother me much, and my husband comes home for the night anyway – let him babysit his father, if he likes it.
