“This is supposed to be the time of my life – the nest is empty; but now Mom needs me.”

Mom loves to eat out. That is definitely her all time favorite thing to do. And she’s always loved gourmet cooking with lots of flavor. My husband and I take her out for dinner every Friday and usually one other day during the week – and always when she has doctor’s appointments we go for lunch too. But lately she’s been complaining about how everything she orders has no taste.

I’ve read that as we age we can lose our taste buds, but I never read that it could be my fault for my mom not tasting anything. Yup! Somehow my mom can always spin it around to be my fault – even losing her taste buds.

You see, this is how it is. We go out for dinner; my husband and I know pretty much what we are going to order (because we’ve been going to the same restaurant for over a year); Mom peruses the menu even tho she’s a vegetarian and there are only certain items she will eat; I will ask her if she knows what she’ll be having; she always says no and continues to peruse the menu; then I try to push her along by suggesting something; and finally she’ll order one of the items I suggested – which is usually the same thing she orders every time.

By the time we order we’ve seen multiple tables come and go – and my husband and I are starving! So when our food arrives my husband and I are always enjoying every bite – the food is always wonderful here. Then I look over at Mom and she looks disappointed. Should I ask? Of course I do, and I get the same response as usual – “it doesn’t have any taste.” Even adding condiments doesn’t seem to help.

Then I know what’s coming next. “If I hadn’t listened to your suggestion maybe I would have something that tastes good.” Really? And don’t EVEN try to tell her it could be her taste buds. Oh right, a 90 year old has perfect taste buds. But I don’t let it bother me because she’s MOM. My husband pats my leg and gives me a kiss – it’s all good!

What I Learned: Don’t suggest anything to eat? (We’d probably still be waiting to order if I didn’t)