I had 60 years to fulfill on my dreams and now it's time to put my attention on another, my mother. I've never been a mother but I'm getting a sense of what it must be like. My mother comes first, as would a child, and my day is filled with household chores, cooking, cleaning, running errands, fixing what's broken, organizing, keeping the peace and mainly being available. It's not that Mom can't do anything for herself, she can, in fact she's mighty feisty, it's her arthritis, challenging her at times.
Getting her to eat is another chore. She's been eating less despite I'm a pretty good cook. Like a mother I'm having to learn how to get her to eat, but in the process I'm learning that coaxing is not the direction to take. During the week I had made broiled chicken with Italian spices, a leek and potato soup, sauteed brown rice and vegetables, once her favorite. I noticed her teeth were no longer doing their job. Ah! A clue. I've been needing to play detective to find out why Mother's not eating as much as she used to.
Did you know that as we get older oftentimes our ability to digest is diminished and the desire to eat is lessened, taste buds change and the ability to swallow can be inhibited by a narrowing throat!? So it's actually okay that she's not eating those enormous three meals a day that we've been trained to eat both at home and at restaurants. Some elders don't have the best teeth to chew. Steaks, chicken and healthy salads we've been brainwashed to eat become uncomfortable events. But those same nutrients can be had in delicious vegetable and fruit juices, smoothies and soups, which I've been making a lot more of for Mom and myself.
Last night I made Coq au Vin which had the opposite effect than what I intended. Mom couldn't stand the odor of the red wine and wouldn't even consider tasting it.
Today I'm making a mouth-watering lentil soup made with Indian spices that fill the kitchen with pleasing aromas. That's another thing I've learned, when Mom has no appetite and no desire to eat, the aromas of delicious (it's got to be delicious!) smelling food, awaken her interest, the salivating begins, and the infiltrating aromas, being the catalyst, often result in, "Okay, okay, I'll have a taste" and then, "Okay, I'll have some." Whew!!
