Sunday night when I went into the kitchen (after writing the last post) I realized Okaasan had actually washed up the dinner dishes for me. Excellent.
She doesn't usually - some reason about you should let the body rest after eating, but while she can put a little water in dishes and leave them "till tomorrow", by tomorrow she has forgotten and we almost always wash up after meals.
But Sunday night - she obviously remembered that Dear Son was away and I was busy prepping Christmas classes - so she washed the dinner plates for me. :-)))
It's a small thing - but all good.
Then yesterday: my day of leaving home at 9 am for classes and two end of year parties - getting home at 9.30 pm.
I left Okaasan in charge of her own dinner AND asked her to feed the cats!
And she did it. I'm officially an Okaasan Trainer now. :-)
I copied and pasted one of Dear Son's letters to Okaasan that is on the computer. My Japanese isn't good enough to write an original letter, but I can cobble together a letter from his old letters.
I deleted and added in some sentences: telling Okaasan that I was out at a party in the evening. Telling her that lunch would be delivered as usual. Telling her to heat up the oden in the table top cooker for dinner and telling her to open a pack of dried cat food and put it in the bowls on the stairs.
Then I set out the oden on the kitchen table. Put cat bowls on the stairs - and marched into Okaasan's room to give her the letter and ask her to follow it.
She was pleased ( I think) to be asked to do something for me. She got up and came into the hallway to check the cat bowls, and wished me good luck at end of year party madness.
I set out thru the snow and ice and RAIN! to my day of work and parties. The streets are baaad.
......
And I came home at 9.30 pm and...
She had eaten ALL the oden (it was a pack for two people) - and not burned the house down.
She had fed the cats one pack of food.
The other pack was still on her table....not to worry - it wasn't their only food of the day and I was home eventually - Japanese doesn't have plurals - and my letter hadn't specified "give the cats BOTH packs of food".
The only failing? Dear Son's mistake methinks: the lunch delivery didn't come. Which is why Okaasan ate all the oden - for her lunch and dinner.
He organises the lunch deliveries, maybe he got the dates wrong.
But MY side of it all - all went well.
Using your Okaasan. It is very important! She can be the cat sitter in future :-)
It is so easy with old people to do everything for them. It's quicker and simpler. But getting them to do stuff and asking them to do favors for you - it's good physical activity and everyone likes to feel needed.
I've just been in Okaasan's room and given her big thanks for feeding the cats. Hope that gives her nice warm, fuzzy feelings about herself and life.
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