Help! My Sweet Mother is SO Bored!

/ Katybeth

HELP! My sweet mother is BORED.

You may have noticed comments like this one on Odd:

“Bored, bored, bored. Sitting at home with a broken ankle is no fun, no fun at all. Hopefully by next Monday I’ll be out and about again. Not even the rain today made me all that happy.” MMJ

On any given day my sweet mother will hop up by 6:30 a.m., head out with Trinket (her Doberman), attend two dog obedience classes, run errands, return e-mails, pull weeds, clean the house, plan meals, visit elderly friends, and paint the hallway—all before 12 noon. Ok, so I am exaggerating a little… Let’s just say my mom is a high-energy type of person, from sunup until the cocktail hour on the patio at 5 p.m.

A few weeks ago, my sweet mom headed out with her good friend N.R to show Trinket at a dog agility trial. Dog agility is a dog sport in which a handler directs a dog through an obstacle course in a race for both time and accuracy. Dogs run off-leash with no food or toys as incentives, and the handler cannot touch the dog or obstacles but must use his or her voice, movement, and various body signals to direct the dog. By all accounts, my mother and Trinket were having a heck of a run on the agility course until my mother seemed to stumble and Trinket seemed to lose focus. My mother, of course, finished the run and hobbled out of the ring with Trinket. Everyone standing ringside immediately assured her Trinket was doing great and would have passed if only her handler (my mother) had not stumbled. My mother said, “Really? We were doing that well? Darn it! By the way, I think I broke my ankle.” I will tell you right now… there is no other sport as single-minded as dog showing.

My sweet mom landed up in the emergency room with the diagnosis of a broken ankle, a big boot, and a stern admonition to take it easy for a few weeks. My dad rented a wheelchair and crutches and took my mom home. Twenty minutes later, she was calling me to tell me she was BORED.

The last couple of weeks have been very hard for my housebound mom. I have tried my best to amuse her: I bought her a new Kindle, suggested books, encouraged her to browse Pinterest and lurk on Facebook, called her with amusing car stories, and wished I live a more exciting life so I could share it with her. I have asked her how to cook pork chops, shared a tater tot casserole recipe with her, and have even been bored with her. Cole, her dear boy, calls and amuses her, but we still have about a week to go before she can go and she is SO BORED!!

HELP! 

Please amuse my sweet mother. Tell us a story, a joke, ask for some dog advice, suggest a new book,  leave a link too your amusing blog post, share a recipe, bitch about your spouse (did I mention she has been housebound with my dad for the last three weeks? A couple of days ago he broke a bottle of wine, and Trinket cut her foot and bled everywhere, and then the grilled cheese almost caught the house on fire—enough said. Some of you will understand). My mother is not hard to amuse; it’s just a never-ending job and we need some fresh material. My mother will love your company, so please leave a comment!

♥

Dear Mom !!!!    Here is a great idea from Musings by an ND Domer’s Mom! An Easter Egg Hunt for Trinket! 

32 thoughts on “Help! My Sweet Mother is SO Bored!”

  1. What a bummer! Not being mobile is the worst! Being stuck at home with your spouse is even worse-er. I don’t have any great suggestions–I did organize my recipe box once when I was stuck at home over an extended period of time. The problem was from the point I organized it I could never find anything again.
    Hang in there it might seem like forever but it looks like there is light at the end of the tunnel!

    • I hope my mothers never gets so bored she organizes her recipe box…that would not be a good thing. Thanks for dropping by tho and reminding us to keep our eye on the light!
      Worse-er should really be a word.

  2. When I was recuperating at home my husband would ignore me for hours until I found something to do–the moment I picked up a book, tried to nap, or sat down at the computer he wanted to talk to me. Drove me nuts. I got so bored during that time, I alphabetized all my nail polishes and lipsticks.

    Wishing you a very speedy recovery!

  3. I took my parents and my 4 yr old Tommy and 6 year old Mary Kate to Costa along with my parents. I rented a van with a clutch and I drove for many hours with no air and my father screaming ” Jesus Mary and Joseph” Jesus and His Holy Mother” and then ” WTF” are you doing!! Anyway the roads are treacherous, mountainous and it was bloody hot and humid. We are almost at the resort, I can see the ocean and both clutch and breaks go out! The car began a slow dissent into the ocean. I jumped out and Daddy jumped out. And my kids and mother remained in the vehicle. This was shallow water and all of the sudden we became hysterical with laughter. Mother was screaming pretending to save her grandchildren in ankle deep water. When she saw us laughing she tinkled all over herself. My kid tells everyone I left her to drown!

    The following was some of the conversation that followed my post on Facebook….

    Cynthia: Good one, Nancy. Remind me never to go traveling with you.

    Nancy: That was a great trip to Costa Rica! My kids stayed up during the night and we toured the beaches with international scientist and were able to watch the large sea turtles lay their eggs. Horsebacked into the mountains and saw a puma in the wild. Monkeys galore! Oh I am a great traveling companion my dear. You have no idea!

    Katybeth: Wow–you left your mother to DROWN!! If we go on vacation Nancy, I will drive.

    Nancy: It is hard to drown in ankle high water. My daughter Mary Kate tells another story how they were in the car and drowning. My father and I were laughing so hard we couldn’t breathe. Grandma walked away..walked away gripping on to her two grandcildren who were also walking in ankle deep water. When she finally realized she wasn’t going to drown. She took a long needed tinkle and my father and I laughed so hard the tears streaming down our faces. Tommy concerned that he saw tears. ” Mommy are you crying or laughing”. Both honey both! Nothing a few drinks at a bar didn’t fix I assure you.

    Cynthia: Now that I heard about the rest of the trip, I am willing to reconsider……

    Nancy: Yeah baby! Yeah baby!

    Teresa: I’m kinda likin Nancy’s poddy mouth dad. Reminds me of home..

    Nancy: I really miss him. He swore like a trooper and prayed like a saint. He loved the F bomb. He had an expansive vocabulary and he was a veraciuos reader but he like that word and defended it afterwords. Funny, scintilating, and charming man my Dad. Happy Father’s Day in heaven daddy.

  5. Sure hope your recuperation process goes quickly Marcie but to tell you the truth I feel more sad about you being locked in a house with a man of retirement age than the injury itself. When my father retired it wasn’t long before my mother had a bleeding rash all over her neck and the dermatologist said ” something’s gotten under your skin”. Do I have to pay you for that diagnosis? she replied. ” It’s MY HUSBAND, he retired! I cannot be with him more than the usual evening hours and even then I need a cocktail to contend with his nonsense! He said “but you’ve been married almost fifty years and you have nine children” and she said ” So what, he’s still annoying”! My mom joined a health club, Jenny Craig, Botanical Garden classes etc.. Anything to keep her from my Dad’s voice! LOL She became a shop aholic , a shop until you drop shopper and then went back to work selling furniture at Red Oaks Barn (an upscale furniture store in Long Grove IL). The marriage lasted because of her part-time job otherwise there would have been a fine funeral ten years earlier. Mom’s motto on marriage is this: Keep your husband blind in one eye and deaf in one ear and everything will be just fine. Naturally there is no help for the man breaking bottles on the kitchen floor, he would be in big trouble at my mother’s house because among other things she was a neat freak! Actually she is a lot of fun and she never shares her chocolate candy!

  6. God save me if I am ever stuck at home for an extend period of time with my husband. He tries to help out when I’m sick but watching him makes me crazy and God forbid I should offer any sort of suggestion. Mr. Know-it-all knows everything about everything and if he doesn’t he swears he does.
    Thank goodness I have never had to spend a lengthy time at home recuperating but if I did I would watch all the television shows everyone talks about but I never have a chance to watch.

  7. Your poor mom! I wouldn’t do well with a broken hoof at all — I’d be bored, too! Only so much one can do when one can’t readily get out and about. Too much TV or book-reading or even computer work would drive anybody nuts! Thankfully, there’s light at the end of the tunnel!

    • A little warning would have been nice. Not only will I not be able to sleep due to the violence in this film but, I now have that catching tune stuck in my head. I may never be able to look at a salad the same way.

  10. Thanks one and all. The video showing the dogs that needed a “little training” just totally cracked me up. Loved Nancy’s vacation story! Kind of reminded me of a few of our vacations! The veggie song was hysterical. I’m going to get some eggs and try that hide and seek game with the Trinkster.
    Since I’ve broken this ankle 4 times the spouse is a bit short of sympathy. If I can just make it to Mon. with out killing him, he’ll live forever! I’d probably shoot him but God knows I’m in no shape to clean up afterward.
    TTFN
    MJ

  13. Sorry KB, I wished I had some good hubbie stories to tell. As you may or may not know, I am married to the perfect man. How do I know this? He told me! He also told me he doesn’t snore. So since I’m married to the perfect man, it makes perfect sense that what goes wrong in this house is my fault. For instance, it’s my fault that things are hidden in the refrigerator. Apparently, I seem to have this uncanny technique of placing a jar right in front of an item that he is seeking. Why do they insist I’m hiding it rather than, I don’t know, moving stuff around? My Dad was like that when it came to the kitchen. My Mom injured her shoulder and at that time, they actually kept you in the hospital for a few. My Dad was so lost. He would open the cabinets and drawers looking about like he never saw this room before. Also, why do men, as perfect as they may be, put a milk container back in the fridge and later tell you that they “think” it’s going bad?

    Now reflecting back to hiding things, since I’m blamed anyway of doing this, I wonder if I should take Debbie’s idea and place eggs around the house for my husband to find. Or mix it up, a egg here, a wisk there, a bowl here, a pan there. At least I’ll get him to cook.

    Wishing your Mom a very speedy recovery! May her ankle heal fast and her honey do list grow long.

    • Joann I wish you had some good stories to tell too! It’s so hard when the perfect man robs you of material but what are you going to do? Hide the catsup I guess 😀

  14. O.K. today he asked me how I wanted him to dust the dining room table!!! DUH, how about with the dust cloth!!! I simply can not handle watching him do stuff. It’s to painful. Only 4 more days!
    MJ

  18. Pingback: April 16, 2012: Stress Awareness Day, Librarian Day, Eggs Benedict Day, Mushroom Day,

Comments are closed.