Redheaded Jill

Going off of memory, this is what an average day looked like for me as an ESL teacher/caretaker.

3:45 – Wake up, brush teeth, get presentable ASAP

4:00 – Start class. (I teach with VIPKid. At the time I started I was working for Chinese families, teaching kids ages 3-16 online in 30 min. – 60 min. classes.)

8:30 – Teaching is done for the day. I would go help Grandma to the bathroom and get settled in her chair. I’d make her coffee, and do my Bible reading while Grandma did hers. If it was a Monday I’d refill her pill box for the week. (The woman took a lot of meds.)

9:00 – When she was ready I’d make breakfast. Often toast or an omelette. After breakfast I’d help her to the bathroom and then get her settled for the day.

10:00 – I would go lay down and probably nap for an hour or two. Always reading to hop up in a flash if Grandma needed me. Our house is a single story home and it was easy to hear if she called me.

12:30 – Lunch time. On days when a “helper” came to the house I would run errands. Two days a week a woman would come keep grandma company, fix her lunch and do some light housework. Honestly, the lady was sweet but she didn’t do much. She was nosy and I really didn’t appreciate her comments a lot of the time. But Grandma liked her well enough. The woman herself was frail and wasn’t able to do much.

1:00 – When possible I would go run errands. Grocery shop, go to a shrink appointment, go to the library, wander Target aimlessly… Something to get me out of the house.

3:00 – Come home and check on Grandma. She didn’t require much during the day once she was settled in her chair. She would request refills on water because being immobile outside of her electric scooter it was an ordeal to get up and out of her chair. Otherwise she’d read, nap, and watch tv. She loved the shows Survivor and Heartland.

5:30 – Dinner time. I would try to cook, but Grandma wasn’t able to eat much without getting sick. She loved potato soup so this was a staple. She also loved any Campbells soup and the keebler elf butter crackers.

6:30 – Get ready for bed. Grandma would get in her pjs and brush her teeth etc…

7:00 – Grandma would usually watch her shows and I would watch mine in the other room. Sometimes I’d talk her into watching a movie. We loved Doris Day or John Wayne. The nights that were my least favorite she would watch the polka channel. (No idea why…) Towards the end of her life we watched several episodes of Mork and Mindy which… is just *chef’s kiss* perfection.

10:00 – Help Grandma to bed. She needed her night pills, her water, a tissue, her remote control, her Bible… My Uncle bought her a hospital type bed so she could raise and lower it. She would watch tv in her bedroom until she fell asleep, usually around midnight.

Once Grandma was in bed I would do my chores. I am a night owl anyway, but it was hard to do things with Grandma watching. She liked things done a certain way, and we had less arguments when I cleaned the floor or washed the windows without an audience.

12:00 – I would go to bed. Sometimes to sleep. Sometimes to read. And would repeat the next day.

Teaching online is one of the best jobs I’ve ever had. I hope to get started again someday soon. (China no longer allows online teaching, but Korea and some other asian countries are starting to use VIPKid more and more.)