Parenting our parents

My husband's parents are a big responsibility in our lives. I usually take care of their shopping & errands, and I accompany them to almost all DR appointments, but this week there were no DR appts on the calendar, and my dear husband took care of the errands, effectively giving me a little break. We've been spending Friday evenings with Mom & Dad, playing cards & usually having dinner together. Tonight I started cooking supper, and he went to pick them up & run an errand. Here's a little summary he posted on facebook tonight:

So here is my life....I pick up Mom and Dad for Family Fridays! I decide to take my elderly parents to CVS....I think, "Surely, they can handle a trip to the pharmacy." Mom wants to buy birthday cards for Lynn, my mother-in-law, and me; Dad wants candy. So we enter the store and I show Mom the card section. Then I take Dad to the candy aisle and tell him to pick out two bags of candy while I go help Mom pick out cards. At this point Dad is passing gas and not to be gross but there is nothing as hideous as the gas a 91 year old passes. Another lady enters the aisle as I leave and I think, "Poor woman, she should run the other way."

I find Mom and she has picked out a card for my Christian mother-in-law. Mom picked it out in about 2 minutes flat and without her reading glasses. I read the card which starts out nice saying something about you deserve a day off, a day in the hot tub, a day to eat whatever you want, etc. Then on the bottom it says: "Do it all again tomorrow, what the hell, you deserve it." Not the right card for my mother-in-law for sure. So I help Mom pick out a better card and a card for my brother Lynn. Next I tell her, "I know you want to pick me out a card so I am going to check out these two cards and Dad's candy. After you buy your last card we will meet you in the car."

Dad and I go to the car and wait and wait and wait. I go in and find that Mom has been wandering the store calling my name, but now she is finally at checkout. When I go to checkout she not only has a card, but she also has a gallon of milk and more candy. For those who don't understand....Mom is a diabetic and she is constantly cheating on sweets (milk also is bad for diabetics). I freak out, but the lady already rang her out, so I decide to confiscate it when we get back to my house. However, there is one more crisis...she can't find her credit card. We look in every part of her purse and have no luck! I will have to look for it in her apartment later in the evening.

Oh, well that is a small snapshot of my life as senior caregiver! Pray for Amanda and me!!

The good news is that the lost credit card was found (after David checked two of Mom's other purses), there was room in our frig for the milk (she can have it on Tuesday, but not today...), and that we are finding the humor in these situations rather than just plain stressing out. The best news is, though, that Mom & Dad are in good spirits, they feel loved, and they love us. They're not the same as they used to be, mentally, but we're still making good memories--that is, David and I are making memories--and we're in this together, honoring our parents as best we can.