“This is supposed to be the time of my life – the nest is empty; but now Mom needs me.”
Let’s see – this was somewhat of an uneventful week with Mom. Oh wait… the vitamin issue! Ok, we all know that vitamin supplements are good for us, especially as we age and particularly if we don’t eat properly. So I’m having this conversation with Mom about how she’d feel better if she made proper dietary choices and took vitamins – at least a multi vitamin. She’s really fighting me on this issue for some reason – not sure why.
I talked with my sister-in-law who is a doctor and works with geriatric patients and she gave me a list of vitamins Mom should be taking to help her situation. Nothing major, just a multivitamin (like I told her), B-12 and D. Sounds about right to me – that’s what I even take. So I talked to Mom about taking them, she agreed, so I first bought her a multi vitamin. I thought everything was OK until she hit me with the “sodium” ingredient on the box, which happens to be in the area that has no amount listed because it is so insignificant that it means absolutely nothing. WOW! It’s just a vitamin – I can’t believe we are having this discussion about vitamins – geeze! Sodium? Really? This coming from someone who consumes soup – have you checked the sodium levels there? Oh well, I just acquired another bottle of multi vitamins! I’ll keep working on it.
The end of the week was a bit more eventful. It was Mom’s birthday so we took her for a drive to the beach and then out for dinner – no, not Denny’s. When we got home our son surprised her with a cake he had baked all by himself – candle and all! The only candle on the cake was a number 8, but if you look at both sides it’s 88. What a nice surprise – Mom was so happy.
Way to go son!
What I Learned: It’s difficult trying to change someone who is set in her ways, but be persistent.
Tag Archive | health
Caring For An Elderly Parent: Living With OCD
“This is supposed to be the time of my life – the nest is empty; but now Mom needs me.”
Today wasn’t too bad – although my husband may beg to differ. We took Mom to the grocery store to pick up a few things; the usual routine – help Mom down her steps, help her to the car, help her with her seat belt, run back to close and lock her doors, jump in the truck and off we go! In the short time that I was locking up her place, Mom had my husband seeing red – and I missed the whole thing. Of course, my husband filled me in later.
I knew Mom had an issue with seeing out the window (which is totally weird because she never opens her blinds in her h
ouse) because I learned that from our infamous RV trip across the country. What I didn’t know is how OCD she is. You see, my husband had his jacket hung on the hook behind the driver’s seat and Mom asked him to take it down so she could see out the window. Well…. this is my husband’s work truck and he likes things the way he likes things – some of you may relate . Hey, I have no problem with that – I understand “work space”, but Mom did not. He explained to her that he had a meeting and didn’t want to forget his jacket and needed it looking good, etc.
Well that wasn’t good enough for Mom. She decided to move – or “try” to move – the jacket herself. After several attempts and much moaning and groaning she decided to give up on that idea. But my husband had a change of heart and moved the jacket while we were in shopping. He realized that it wasn’t worth being that stressed over a jacket.
I guess Mom had a change of heart too because when we were driving home she told my husband that he shouldn’t have had to move the jacket since it was his truck and he should have it his way. WOW! Where did that come from? Funny thing tho – on the drive home the sun was beating in the back window (where the jacket should have been hanging) right onto Mom – and we all know how Mom feels about the sun (as vampires say, “blah, blah blah, blah blah”) – and she was leaning over as far as possible to get away from it but didn’t dare say a thing.
Well Mom, I’m guessing right about now you wish you hadn’t had my husband move his jacket…. right?
What I Learned: We’ve got to try to get along and make adjustments – but we still need boundaries.
Note: OCD is an anxiety disorder and can be very serious for some people. As time goes on living with Mom, I realize it is a serious issue for her.