Along with my (and everyone else's) love for books, I'd also have to say Amazon gift cards!

I've never done a word of the year, but when I saw your thread title, "Better" immediately jumped into my mind, without thought. But then as I started thinking of how you could branch off it it, well, there's a lot.

Books (of course) Baby cuddles Ice cream (Blue Bell Ultimate Neapolitan is my current favorite) Palak paneer (Indian dish that I could eat every day) Good quality ink pens

Two of my six were like this. I learned with one dd, as a toddler, to give her a snack immediately upon waking from her nap. If I didn't, I paid for it. She still, as an adult, needs to snack fairly often. Interestingly, her identical twin could go much longer between food intakes, and still can. And one ds was similar, but not quite as bad. The other kids never needed snacks too much.

I had never heard of this case. That's so awful. The injustice of it--makes me so angry, and also makes me want to weep. Those poor little boys, and the poor mommas (and daddies).

I liked this--probably should have done the laughing emoji--because this happened to me a couple of days ago. I thought, "Wait! I didn't even say that out loud! Now it's reading my mind, and that is just TOO far!" lol

I haven't personally dealt with Alzheimers closely. But with dementia in general, I think it is helpful to me to reframe things when the personality changes. They aren't being (mean, hateful, foolish, argumentative, etc.) on purpose, but their brain is damaged. It isn't (as pp said) the "real" person coming out, it's the brain damage showing its effects.

I was going to say my sil gave one ds a pillowcase she'd made for him out of a fabric with trains on it. They weren't babyish trains, but it was more of real engines. He loved that thing and used it for years.

This may only be a little snippet of it, but it's been on my mind a lot the past couple of days. And that is, if we could get rid of the attitude: "You can't be (or must be) ________, if you vote for ________." The automatic labeling without even listening to discourse and trying to understand is really bothering me. As a couple of pp said above, of course we need to be careful that we are not compromising our values and principles in our attempts to be undivided. But there are ways that we can still treat others with respect and kindness, and build on things we do have in common, without relegating the other person to a label only, at least in most cases/scenarios.

We're in 1800 sq ft. It's really a perfect size for nearly everything we do, but for larger family gatherings, we are the ones who travel. So when we retire, we will be moving anyway, back to our home state, and probably in the town where one of our children and her family live. There are also extended family members nearby. I'd love to be able to buy the equivalent of our present home, in every way but that I'd rather equal out the size of the 2nd and 3rd bedrooms. Presently, one is very large, and one is much smaller. I'd prefer they both be comfortably-sized for a queen bed. Otherwise, it is all on one level (no basement), no steps, almost a walk-in shower in master, 3 br, 2 ½ bath, great kitchen, etc. We have a large family, so not everybody could stay with us, but between ours and dd's home, it would be fine. However, we are in a lcol presently, and housing is much more expensive in my home state, even though it is still considered lcol. I don't see how we will be able to buy anything anywhere near the same size. 😞

This probably won't help, because a foot is different, but I had a ganglion cyst in my wrist when I was young (high school? college?). I had it for several years, and though it bothered me with mild pain, it never caused a lot. It eventually went away on its own.

When you mix Dawn and vinegar, do you do it half and half? Can you put it in a regular spray bottle?

Yes, my mom is 90, but is still pretty on top of things and able to manage. I think she does get lonely, as my sibling's family life is pretty busy, but after my father died, she lived alone for about nine years, so we are glad she finally agreed to move closer to remaining family members. Maybe some kind of combo situation could work (if affordable), where she has a bedroom and sitting room if she wants the privacy (or just a large bedroom with a little sitting area), but shares meals and main living with you all. If my mom lived with us, despite her desires to not "interfere" with our family life, I'm pretty sure she would be folded in more to our lives than she is now. But we live too far away from the rest of the family for her to be willing to move here.

I'm so sorry about your father-in-law. We, personally, haven't done it. But my mom lives with my sibling and family. They have a part of the house that was easily converted into an apartment for my mom (one bedroom, bathroom off the bedroom, living/dining area, kitchenette, and a half-bath off the living/dining area). So she has her own independent space, which is very important to her, and she brought some of her own furniture/decor items. She did not want to "interfere" with their family life or privacy. She paid for converting the bathtub to a walk-in shower, and for a stair chair. It seems to work very well for them. She insists on paying rent to them since she no longer has any other housing expenses. My sibling or my daughter (who lives nearby) take her to her appointments and pick up her groceries.

It's probably because that would be sexist.

I think you will be happy with it. Unless something strange happened, as in an incredible deal on something very similar, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one when we need to. I might not even shop around. It's easy to drive size-wise, and I love the reliability. For the size, the only thing we haven't been able to do is that we still have to take the truck when we go camping, but we don't exactly go minimalist when we camp (and that includes taking our own firewood). Our dd and dsil also have one, and they, too, are well-pleased. As said above by pp, we had the dealership after us for awhile to trade it in, because they are always looking to up their used stock.

We have a 2013 with about 105,000 miles on it. We bought it used when it was a couple years old. We really like it. The size is perfect for us for most things. It isn't the smoothest/quietest ride on the highway, but that's about it. We've been good about keeping up regular maintenance, and expect it to last us a good long while.

My girls have all been out of the house for years now, but I still miss them (and distance is involved). So I can relate! Hugs, momma.

Thank you for letting us know. Prayers for your parents and you. (((((Scarlett)))))

I'm sorry, Scarlett! I hope they will be okay. And yes, please do update as possible.

Nope. I don't believe I have it in me right now. 😄 😜

A beautiful tribute to her. And a reminder to me that my actions and attitudes do influence people, for better or worse.

Learning how to use basic tools.

I think there has been a cultural shift between generations. My mom had friends for years as well. She had to move a couple of years ago, but she and her best friend (both in their 90s) still talk on the phone occasionally. My generation has had careers, moves, and so on, that have made it more difficult to keep up those long-term relationships. People are busy, tired, and thus the friendships that are related to the group thing have dominated. It's a sad shift, imo.

I'm sorry, Regentrude. This is such a weird time. For myself, I find I feel much more exhausted than usual, due to all issues Covid, plus other things going on, and I don't have much left. I'm so sorry you feel alone in these days. It may be that some in your circles are feeling similar to me.