best money ever spent....

I wish I had bought one ages ago. Mom has always had cats. She loves her cat. Me, not so much. I'm a dog person. I don't care for cats. I mean they are "ok" but def. not my preferred animal. But one thing I H A T E is the cat box. This hasn't been an issue for me over the years mom has been with us, b/c her cat, her box. However, with the decline in her short term memory, she doesn't remember to scoop the box. ICK. Nasty. Blech. Did I mention I hate the litter box?

Anyway hubs was doing it for me until he had a hurt back about 3 weeks ago. I said ok, this is gross. There has to be a better way. Google google google away and I find the "scoop free" cat box on amazon. SCORE! Now there are several different "automatic" boxes out there, but I did some research and review, and while this one was 2x as much $, it was also rated 4.5 stars out of 5 on all the websites I checked. The others were rated 1.5-2 stars.

Add to cart, add some refills, purchase.

It arrived in 3 days (wow!) and was a super breeze to set up. AND I LOVE IT. No more scooping. Its been going for nearly 2 weeks now. The set up is supposed to last a month with one cat. We'll see. I dont care if only lasts 2 wks...worth every every stinkin' (or not so stinky now) penny.

So far so good. I'm telling y'all with my disdain for the litter box, I'd spend double the amount I did if it keeps working like it is. :)

Now, mom. Well. She's doing ok right now. About the same. Holding steady I'd say. I went a head and purchased a mattress cover for her bed (waterproof) just in case. I think its probably wise. We weren't able to get into see a Neurologist before her medicaid ran out. Bummer. So now we have to pay a big down payment, but we have to do what we have to do.

She's doing little things that have always annoyed me about her, but now I can't get mad b/c shes impaired. Like taking the kids candy. That has always bugged me. One of the kids will be saving something ( in this instance it was a cookie with M&Ms in it that the youngest won at a church carnival). My daughter was "saving" it for after supper on Monday. It was in a ziplock in a brown paper back with her name on it. We ration candy/cookies etc around here. After supper she goes to get her bag and with big ole crocodile tears asked me "where is my cookie?" UGH. Mom is allergic to chocolate, or so she's claimed all these years. Of course, by this point, she doesn't remember eating the cookie, so she doesn't admit it. But it had to be her. Because she was the only one here. AND I find the M&Ms wadded up in a napkin later. This is a behavior she has always had...taking stuff that belongs to the kids (or me for that matter) and denying it. But I cant get irritated now, b/c she doesn't remember it. So back to hiding "treasures" I suppose. Having her in the house has always been a lot like having a third child, but its worse now I suppose. Kids I can handle. But how do you correct/discipline an impaired parent? You can't.

Me: I'm going to my first real life caregiver support group on the 22 of Nov. I think its probably a good idea. I spoke to the social worker in charge, and she seemed really nice. Maybe they have some tips for me I havent heard yet. Maybe they can give me a magic wand that would make her shower!! LOL