If she is only borderline-old enough for Agatha Christie, consider starting with a collection of Miss Marple stories. I read through AC at a relatively young age, and Miss Marple is what got me hooked. The great thing about AC is that there are so many of them. They will keep her busy and develop in her an appreciation for scones and crumpets. It's win-win.

Wouldn't they be more likely to be used for hatching baby turkeys? That is what I would expect them to be sold for.

I paid $25/hour for almost 3 hours' of work (I rounded up and paid her $75). She sent me a pic, and let's just say it's a good thing I don't care about bows and ribbons. I am thrilled to have it done. Well, most of it done. I still have some stuff in transit that I will wrap myself.

I don't know but I have someone at my house wrapping gifts as we speak, so this is timely. She has been at it for almost 2 hours, and I honestly have no idea how many gifts that involves (30 maybe?) or how fancy her bows are because I DO NOT CARE. I need them out of my closet and under the tree, and I am so stinkin' excited that she's doing this that I would throw lots of $$ at her. I feel like I won Christmas.

Pom juice seems to have cleared up my lingering cold.

Yes, it takes time. I am just explaining why the POA expires at death.

No, but you need to be a co-signatory on the account, not the sole owner of the account.

At death, the executor of the estate's authority kicks in. If the named executor in the existing will is unable or unwilling to serve, the court will appoint another executor, which would presumably be one of the sisters. The executor would have immediate access to the bank accounts. Someone acting under a POA should not transfer money from the parent's account to his own, but the agent could have her name added to the principal's accounts during the principal's life.

There probably is not a form for that. Your sister could apply for guardianship of your father, though, and in most states that would include the right to make medical decisions. That takes a bit because there has to be a hearing, but the hearings are relatively informal, more like a meeting in the judge's office, and there might be an expedited process available. This would be an excellent question to ask a very local lawyer who knows the judge. I had a client get a judge to approve something similar on a weekend when someone was in ICU and not expected to survive the weekend, and that was possible because the attorney could text the judge.

You do not need a lawyer. That is the beauty of the statutory POA--it is pretty much foolproof as long as you read the instructions.

One more thing--rereading, it sounds like your mother has already been diagnosed. If so, and you think anyone in the family will challenge the POA, I would have the doctor who diagnosed her write a letter now that she is competent to give a POA. If he will not, you can seek conservatorship (over her property) and guardianship (over her person; also, the terms may be different in Texas), which is a much more difficult process. Again, if your sister is the only sibling and is not going to challenge the POA, her capacity to make the POA is essentially a victimless crime, and I would get right on it.

Most statues have a statutory POA that can be used. That means the exact wording of the form is written into the law, and if it is executed exactly as written, anyone in the state has to honor it. Trust me when I say that is better than the alternative. Texas's is here. Those who have noted that you need to have her sign a POA ASAP are spot-on, so use this form now, by which I mean: print it out and do it tomorrow, and consult an attorney as you are able. If she already has a dementia diagnosis, it may be too late if someone is going to challenge the POA and knows of the diagnosis. If no one is going to challenge it, I would do the POA anyway. Banks, credit card companies, etc., are not going to challenge it on the grounds that she did not have capacity. A sibling might challenge, not a bank. I am an attorney and have clients who deal with beneficiary designations, POAs, etc., all the time. They send all of their weird ones to me, and every single time we get a funky one in or have a question, it is because the parties did not use the statutory form. Follow the directions on the form to the letter, and you will be on the right track. You definitely need to consult with a local attorney about the credit card debt and the mortgage proceeds. There are going to be significant estate and Medicaid issues that need to be planned for.

Agreed. I am not sure they would have something to hold all of her hair, but they have a lot that would work for partial up-dos. The Flexi-things are expensive but last forever.

I'll be the cheap dissenter: I canceled mine. In fact, I canceled it 3 times because the cancellation mysteriously refused to take and the monthly fee would start showing back up on my credit card statement. I do not miss it. I still order from Amazon once a month or so, but I make sure I wait until I have enough to qualify for free non-Prime shipping. I also try to spread my online ordering around some. Walmart works great for my area, and their prices are at or lower than Amazon's.

None of mine was a reluctant driver, but I've taught 4 kids to drive (my own 3, plus 1 of my long-term international kids), and the secret was repetition. We drove the same familiar routes over and over and over again. For example, on Day One, the kid drove from the garage to the edge of the neighborhood, and then we switched; the next, she drove from the garage to the first major intersection where there was a gas station to pull into and switch places with me; the next day, she drove farther; etc. In a few days, she was driving all the way to swim practice, or whatever, and then she drove it every day until she turned 16, passed the road test and drove it alone. My oldest literally drove straight from the DMV to gymnastics practice, with was 17 miles away, around 285 in Atlanta, at 5 PM-brutal. But because she'd driven it 5 days/week for a year, she was confident, and I was not worried about her. Overtraining on familiar routes was really the key. Maybe over Christmas you could try that with the route to the spot where she wants the internship.

My son was lifting so much, and in school or practice for so much of every day, that he could not consume enough protein to sustain the muscle growth to which he aspired (and that he eventually attained). There were just not enough opportunities to eat real food, although he did as much as he could. For instance, he got up early every morning before school and scrambled 6 (yes, 6) eggs for himself, or he would make these nasty protein pancakes that tasted like concrete to me. He worked with a very knowledgeable trainer, who trains multiple MLB players, to figure out what he needed to eat. He also just did not have enough of an appetite to consume the kind of protein he needed in real food. But he was also lifting, heavy, 4 times a week. The older boys on your son's team are probably just older, but they are probably also lifting and eating more. My son really zeroed in on what he wanted and how to get there when he was about 15, and he had a different body by the time he was 17. You and I wouldn't look at him and think he was really muscular, because he is not a body builder, but other athletes and coaches see it immediately.

For 2 years, I had 3 high school baseball players living here. They ate and practiced and worked out and downed enough protein powder to stock a GNC store. My actual son (1 of the 3) is a snob about protein power, and he sneered at anything that had a lot of sugar in it. Other than that, it is a matter of finding one with a flavor and texture you can tolerate. Each of my 3 preferred a different flavor and brand. Because of course they did. The one non-negotiable, I gather, is that it must be mixed in a blender bottle, a plastic bottle with a slinky thing inside that mixes everything when it is shaken. Otherwise, it refuses to dissolve. So that is what I would suggest--a blender bottle with some samples or small containers (although I don't remember GNC having samples, which I always thought they should) or maybe a gift card.

I am pretty selective about what I buy at Sam's, but barring a significant sale at Publix, these are the things that are better deals: TP, paper towels, bacon (3 lb. package), flour (about half-price), dishwasher pods, a big block of Parmesan cheese, fresh mozzarella, chicken breasts and thighs, canned tomatoes and tomato sauce (less than $1/can) and tortillas. I also buy their store brand fruit snacks because they're my favorite. Last trip, I bought gold and russet potatoes in 10 lb bags that were about half the price/lb as Publix and have managed to use most of them. Planning my menus around what I've stocked up on at Sam's is key to making it worth the trip. A LOT of things are not cheaper at Sam's than at Publix. I got a membership July 4th weekend for $8. I figured that one gas fill-up would pay for it, and it has. If you watch their Twitter feed, they announce membership specials occasionally, but then you have to ask for that deal when you sign up. It has been years since I've used Sam's for tires, as we usually just go to our regular shop. We are about to need 4 new tires on a truck, so we'll be shopping around for this set.

Honeybaked Ham stores have ham bones on sale for $3.49 each. They are usually 2.69/lb and weigh 3-6 pounds each, so $11-16. They have tons of ham left on them, which I chop up for recipes before I use the remainder for soup. I found out only because I stopped to pick up sandwiches for my daughter and her friends who are studying for grad school finals and was in line behind a woman who was buying one. So—my good deed was rewarded with cheap ham! Made my day.

I have a now-22 yo daughter from China, and I absolutely remember that that was the standard advice. The rationale was that attachment happens sequentially or something like that, so Mom first (usually), then Dad, and only once those attachments are secure should anyone promote an attachment to extended family. I read this book well after we were home and firmly attached (my adopted child is the most attached to me--whatever we did when she was a toddler worked GREAT) but thought it did a great job of explaining the whys and hows of attachment. One thing we did even while we were in China, based on lore handed out on Chinese adoptive parent email lists (remember those?) was to help her learn to look to US for comfort, and not anyone else, including herself. For example, when we first got her, she would scratch her head, not because it was itchy but for comfort, so I started doing that for her, just rubbing her head gently when I held her or when she was lying down. She would visibly relax (and I was thankful she wasn't a thumb sucker for comfort-she couldn't suck my thumb). Anyway--same would go for anything else that would be equated with care and comfort: parents feed, put to bed, etc., even at levels that are developmentally unnecessary. For instance, if the child is old enough to buckle her car seat or dress herself, the parents still buckle the car seat and zip the jackets as a way to form those bonds that would ordinarily have been formed when the children were younger. ETA: I see SKL said the same thing I did about treating them as if they are younger. Didn't see that--didn't mean to repeat!

If you are willing to do a gift card, FIGS scrubs are the hot thing right now.

I've enjoyed following this thread, although I very much sympathize with the OP's dilemma. Among the gifts mentioned, I've given the Cutco cheese knife (twice, although you basically have to pull it out of the recipient's hands and say "Let me show you" for them to get it), a hammock, a fire pit and folding chairs. All were well received and are either still in use or were used until they wore out. Will add that if she needs clothes, you can't go wrong with Lululemon. You can probably pick her size, and everyone of a certain (young) age loves Lululemon.

I will be following because I have also spent some time down this Amazon rabbit hole. Yowza--the number of options with so many reviews is mind-boggling.

Food subscription box? One of those prepared meal services like Freshly?

Hydroflask. Sunglasses. Charging brick or charging mat. All the teen boys I know loved Wakanda Forever, so maybe something with a tie-in to the movie--socks, maybe?