My husband is an amazing man and was the techie in the family until Parkinson’s got in the way. Now he still wants to help but we think in different ways and I struggle to accept his assistance, especially when dealing with a new and different challenge. Our new television has been a great reminder of that.

We had the new tv delivered yesterday and I was able to set it up without too much difficulty. The challenge came when it was time to actually use it because the “smart tv” is smarter than I am and the simpler controller is too small for my husband’s hands. Of course nothing comes with an owner’s manual anymore. My husband sat down next to me and was making suggestions that were more distracting than helpful. My frustration level rose and angry words, that should not have been said, were directed towards him even though I know he is not at fault for my difficulties. He was just trying to help and was the only target available.

What I think it really comes down to is who is going to own this challenge. My husband is used to figuring these things out, unfortunately he doesn’t have the dexterity to handle the new controller. I can figure it out given time, but do better without an audience and he wants to be there to help. We will figure this out, however, it is going to take patience on both our parts as we do our best to share the task. Hopefully once we are done, we will both understand how this new controller works and how to share control when these issues come up.