“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.