Sometimes I Feel Like a Piece of Bologna

When Collaboration is Important

I had an interesting call from my brother tonight. He’s worried about Mom, and he may have good reason. He’s been getting very different information from Mom than I have. Seems that she has had some falls she didn’t tell me about. Of course, she believes I’d start trying to move her to assisted living. And I might. Or harass her even more to use her cane. He’s also hearing more depression in her communication than I am. It appears that’ she’s pretty untruthful with me when it suits her purposes.

So, this brings up an important point. If there is more than one sibling, each should pay attention to what Mom or Dad are saying and then compare notes. You’ll get a more complete picture of the status of your aging parents than relying on your information alone.

The other side of that is knowing how much independence to allow her. Do we insist on moving her before she hurts herself, or give her the honor of making her own decisions until she’s clearly unsafe. It’s so hard to know!

Labels: aging parents, safety