2chatter, I feel bad. I went to bed after she fell and told DH I need to get back to the gym. She can't get into or out of a low chair by herself, and it takes all of my strength to help her. She is not steady on her feet, she falls all the time, and she's hunchbacked.
I know that most of this is what happens when you get older, but MIL is the exact same age, and while she's no spring chicken, MIL isn't nearly as fragile and unsteady. MIL keeps suggesting that my mom needs to be in an assisted living home, but.. I'm not sure and because she's relatively fine, gets out of the house on a pretty regular basis and is very active in her community... because she has to be. If we take that away from her, I don't see her taking well to it. So I dunno.
I just feel like a bad daughter. My sisters see her on a weekly basis, so I'm not sure if it's as obvious to them how bad it is.
Would she do water aerobics or chair yoga? There’s nothing you can do other than make recommendations, really. In my experience she would qualify for therapy with the “unable to rise out of low chairs” thing - that’s may be another thing you could suggest, but she has to choose and pursue.
2chatter , probably not. Unless it's a doctor prescribing a medication (any medication, not necessarily pain medication) or some kind of supplement, she doesn't seem to be interested. She's complained for years that she's frustrated that doctors want her to exercise more but they don't understand that any exercise makes her hurt. It's a catch 22 scenario since she does have pain, but it's hard for her to see that some of the pain could be relieved in the long run by physical activity.
k3am - sounds so familiar! My mom’s community has classes and she won’t go to them - she doesn’t have anything nice to say about them. But she complains she’s bored. And in pain. Hmmm.
k3am, 2chatter, Is it a pride thing? My grandmother used to tell us she was not going to participate in those things because they were "for old people." She was in her 80s at this point, so I'm not sure who she thought was older than her, but she just didn't want the stigma of participating in old lady activities.
k3am, 2chatter, Is it a pride thing? My grandmother used to tell us she was not going to participate in those things because they were "for old people." She was in her 80s at this point, so I'm not sure who she thought was older than her, but she just didn't want the stigma of participating in old lady activities.
On the other end of the spectrum was my step-grandmother. I met her in my 30s when my mom remarried. She went to live in assisted living and pretty much turned into a very old candy-striper. She was in her mid-90s and would tell us how she would get a list of “old people” who needed help getting to movie night or canasta or whatever and would go push their wheelchairs. Most of these “old people” were younger than some of her kids. I want to be her when I’m old.
twinmomma, it is not a pride thing on our end. My mom seems to LOVE being old. LOVES IT. And she seems to maybe even enjoy the attention from it? She almost never Facetimes us. But when she fell and broke her cheekbone a few years ago, she was constantly trying to Facetime us.
k3am, this is probably a horrible thought on my end but is she milking it for your attention? My grandmother does this and it drives my aunt crazy. For people she doesn't see often she gives out sob stories and can barely walk/move around so people feel bad for her and she gets free/discounted stuff. But around my Aunt it is like lets go wander around Aldi's and spends hours just shopping. Getting her into state sponsored assisted living has probably saved my Aunt's sanity.