Getting Old Isn’t For Sissies

A frustrating weekend for both mom and I. 

We traveled to the Petaluma yesterday to spend the night and attend the Antiques Show.  When we arrived, the Butter and Eggs Festival was starting up, and mom could not be swayed from attending.

Reminder: Mom will be 83 this year, has back problems from osteoporosis, survived two heart attacks and a quintuple bypass and doesn’t walk very fast or well anymore.

We had to park at a grocery store, walk over a bridge and then up and down three or four blocks and back to the car.  This took about two hours.  Then she wanted to go to the factory outlet stores, another couple of hours.  Then we went to dinner and back to the hotel.

Today, the much anticipated (by me) Antiques show opened, and we lasted a half hour before mom could no longer go any further.  She was upset because she couldn’t, and so was I, but selfishly I was also upset that it was basically a waste of time.  We didn’t need to go to the Festival – there was nothing there for us to see. We didn’t need to go to the factory stores.  Mom can’t sit still or “be bored” in a hotel room and anticipates she can do more than she can.  She gets mad when I question her, and then everything turns out like I think it will.

Call me a bad daughter, but this frustrates me to no end.  I try to take her on these excursions to ease her cabin fever, and I try to calculate them so she won’t over exert herself, and she thwarts me every time. 

Yes, I know – cherish the time we have together, who knows how much longer we’ll have.  But I’m also human.  If you’ve figured out how to marry the two, I’d be glad to hear suggestions.