I realized just the other day that my Mother has been living independently in her own apartment in the Senior Living Community, about a half hour drive away from us, for two years now.
I convinced her a few months back that we should have her hair "done" by a professional about every 10 days or so. I could tell that she was having a difficult time with styling her hair in to any sort of semblance aka she looked like
I gotta tell y'all, her attitude has improved tremendously!
At first, DH thought that it wouldn't be such a great idea, because I'd have to drive her to and from the hair dresser's place.
So I asked Mom if she wanted to try the Beauty Parlor in the "Community" ...
"NO! Their terrible! Have you looked at some of the women here? They look awful!"
Not to mention, the nice young gal that does my hair as well as all of my Neighborhood Gal Pal's, is so great with her AND it cost 1/3rd the price as the "Community".
It's a win-win, Mom takes me out to lunch when she's finished. I take her where ever she wants, her choice, well, after all, she's buying
It's like a light went off inside of Mom.
She's doing more things, socializing within her complex, participating in the different activities and eating in the dining room, FINALLY! Meals are extremely inexpensive for the residents and she seems to think that she can't afford to do that... WHAT?!
"MOM! you can eat in the dining room whenever you like, you can afford it! It's less than what some of these frozen meals cost, really!"
I got her monthly statement for her "room & board" yesterday, I figure last month she ate "out" as she's calling it, twice a week on average, that's pretty good. AND she's got new dining buddies too!
Their dining rooms are BYOB, so I bought her those little "one glass" bottles of her favorite wine to take and share.
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(photo curtesy of instacart)
Now, can we talk about your clothes Mother?
@GilliAnne I don't know how I missed this, but I am completely self-taught.If your mother doesn't like to cook or grocery shop, who taught you?
Gillian
I'm glad to hear that she's doing well.My mom came home to her apartment today, from rehab at the hospital from her stroke.
She was able to dress herself, get in and out of her bed by herself, get around the apartment with her walker by herself, and make a sandwich by herself.
She and my sister did a test walk to the dining room, and she made it just fine.
So far, so good.
While she was in rehab, we removed a coffee table and area rug from the apartment, because it was a tripping hazard. She was okay with that. She now has a clear path on laminate flooring to get anywhere in the apartment.
CD
And the adventure continues!
Yesterday, I was trying to call my Mother ALL DAY! The phone just rang and rang and rang – went to voicemail, which is pointless to leave her a message, she still can’t retrieve her messages!
Finally, I called the admin office ...
Moi: Hello, I’m looking for my Mom, have you folks seen her today?
Danielle: I did see her at breakfast, but not since then
Moi: She’s not answering her phone and ...
Danielle: OH MY!! Let me go dash upstairs to check on her and I’ll call you back
A few minutes later my phone rang, and it was Mom.
Mom: What’s up?
Moi: MOM! I’ve been trying to call you all day!
Mom: I’ve been right here all day, my phone has been working fine, I’m getting my calls ...
Moi: Since when?
Mom: Ummmm
Moi: I’ll be over there tomorrow to make things right for you, okay?
Mom: Well, don’t come before noon, because I’ll be out!
I decided that I would make this trip (a half hour drive from our home) a two-fer: check her phone and do a grocery haul for her, I knew was going to need some food.
The first thing I did when I got to Mom’s apartment was to check the volume level on her phone – it was all the way down to ZERO!
I turned it back up and called her number, RING RING RING!!! Nice and loud ...
So, we went over it again, for probably the 10 millionth time,
Moi: Mom, don’t touch these buttons on the side of the phone.
Mom: Why?
Does she have one of those kitchen phones that is attached to the wall? Did she used to have one?My mom is doing goofy things, too. Friday evening I called her. We talked for about ten minutes, she said her legs were hurting, because she was standing in the kitchen. I told here to go sit down in her cushy armchair. She said "okay," followed by a "click." My mom had hung up on me.
CD
Does she have one of those kitchen phones that is attached to the wall? Did she used to have one?