All For One

My parents and I are getting quite proficient at living together. I wouldn’t say we’re at that ‘finishing-each-others-sentences’ stage but we are becoming rather skillful at saving both time and money.

Case in point… the three of us can go out to dinner for less than $20 and still manage to take home enough food for another meal. Here’s how:

Mom and I usually split one meal so we fill up on the salad bar and add what’s leftover to our take-home container. Then we split the entree in half – she eats like a bird, anyway, so I just fill up on the fries (or rice or baked potato) and that leaves about half the main course for home.

Dad eats pretty much everything in sight – and that includes a few helpings from the salad bar, too. But he’s definitely part of the equation because we use a ‘buy-one-get-one-half-off’ deal. So he plays an integral part in our musings.

Now here’s where the time saved comes in. Mom’s really starting to hate cooking so, with a good enough deal on the table, she’s more than willing to go out to eat for two reasons:

1. No cooking today
2. No cooking (just reheating) tomorrow.

That’s because, as I previously mentioned, Mom eats like a bird – a featherlight bird – and can get by with a yogurt or some PB crackers for dinner. Dad’s the one that’ll inevitably scarf down the take-home meal. So… Win. Win. One for all and all for one!

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An Uphill Descent

We’ve all heard the expression: ‘one step forward, two steps back.’ It seems like every time I come up with an idea to make my Dad’s life better it just makes my life more difficult.

Case in point… I got him some books on tape to listen to (he likes comedians but only dead or nearly dead ones; no women and the routines should be rated R). So now I have to be around to put in the tape, turn it on, turn it off when it’s done – meaning I have to plan to be around for approximately an hour. But that’s okay. 

And even though his macular degeneration makes it cruelly difficult for him to see the tv, I do tape the programs he likes to ‘watch’ (he’s, oftentimes, sleeping through them when they’re regularly on). However, then I must stick around for slightly less than an hour to fast forward through all the commercials.

So, in my attempt to keep him happy and to fill his days with some small amount of joy and laughter, I partake in what I lovingly call, an uphill descent!