The Scoop on Poop!

My niece is having another baby in the next few days.  Timothy will be coming to stay with us for awhile until his mother and new baby sister get settled back at home.  Since my niece has begun potty training - and standing Timothy on a stool in front of our toilet produced trepidation and a few tears - I bought a "potty chair" and some "pull-up" diapers in preparation for his next visit.

I laughed as I considered that so much of life in the Sandwich Generation revolves around diapers of one size or another and poop.  We wonder about our babies... have they pooped today?  Did they have a "good" poop?  Are we feeding them the right things to produce "good" poop?  Did they eat too much fiber... or not enough?

When I talk with my grandmother, a frequent topic of conversation is her bowel function - and that of many of her friends.  It's tantamount in the senior's world.  My maternal grandmother was obsessed to the point of taking laxatives and yes, even enemas, until a doctor told my mother that she had so overstimulated her colon that it was now as thick and rigid as a garden hose.

My sister and I have laughed nervously and wondered aloud if we will know we are old when we talk about our bodily functions... all while we are discussing said functions of our babies.  I am continually reminded of the parallels in this universe... diapers and Depends, Enfamil and Ensure, walkers and strollers... and much more.

My grandmother keeps an array of "aids" in her medicine cabinet... Mylanta, Milk of Magnesia, Pepto Bismol and Immodium, to name a few... and she "doctors" herself according to her daily "functions."  Lest you recommend she eat more fruit and get more fiber, she has always eaten well and been very mindful of eating a balanced, healthy diet.  And I try to be diligent in giving Timothy fresh fruit, plenty of green and fibrous vegetables, and healthy grains for breakfast (although lately he prefers a scrambled egg).

I believe the key ingredient that both our children and our seniors may be missing is... wait for it... WATER!  When I was baby-sitting cousins some 40+ years ago, we always gave them water throughout the day, in between their bottles of milk or formula.  We kept a small bottle of water handy for hiccups, and just to hydrate the baby.  I'm not noticing a lot of baby bottles filled with water these days.

My grandmother does not care for water as a beverage.  She will drink iced tea (sweet, of course!), a Coke, or even a bottle of Ensure... and she will sometimes drink tap water with her meal (no ice!).  But to sit down and drink a glass of water is unheard of in her world.

I know, I know... you will suggest that we get plenty of water in the foods we eat and other beverages.  But all we have to do is look at the problems so many seniors - and babies - have with their daily "business," and it seems pretty clear to me that drinking more water certainly can't hurt!

So my tip for today is to find ways to get more water into the diet - yours, the kids', and most certainly your seniors'.  This inexpensive suggestion might be the simplest solution we get for awhile... and it if works, it will be more than worth it!

A 101st Birthday Party...

The 101st birthday party for my grandmother's friend, Lois Taylor, went well.  Mam-ma looked better than she has in months... she was dressed and ready when I arrived, wearing white slacks, a purple t-shirt with a purple/blue printed crinkled fabric shirt jacket.  She had on beautiful irridescent rhinestone earrings, makeup and lipstick, and LOTS of cologne!  Nobody could believe she will be 98 in November!

Ms. Lois looked great, too, and the two ladies had quite a time sitting together and sharing lunch and conversation.  Ms. Lois wears hearing aids in both ears, but she and Mam-ma seemed to converse fairly easily.  Mam-ma saw old friends... and made some new ones.  The way children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews dote on this lovely woman is truly amazing... and everyone was so warm and loving toward her.  She is truly a remarkable woman... and very much the matriarch of the family.  I think the youngest guest I saw was three, and the oldest after Mam-ma was 90... quite a range!

I didn't know most of the guests, but a nephew of the honoree struck up a conversation, and I learned that he is a gerontologist for the state of Oklahoma.  We had a great visit, and I gained some tips and discovered a few things about myself and my caregiving situation that I had never considered. He gave me his card, and I'm sure I'll be in touch at some point.  I hope to share some of his thoughts and suggestions on this blog.

Mam-ma behaved fairly well - she did declare to one grandson that "I don't think I've seen you since you got so fat!" For the record... he was not fat - not even close!  He didn't seem to notice, thank goodness... or maybe he was being polite.

On the way home, I told Mam-ma that Lois's nephew was interesting, and she said, "Well, I noticed you two hit it off, and I told Lois...'He's met his match.  If he can out-talk her, he's really done something!'"  It's a good thing I'm used to my grandmother, or I would probably have driven off the road!  I just never know what she will say.  I told my sister, I know I can talk a lot, but I wanted to say, "Pot, meet Kettle!"  Then my sister reminded me that Mam-ma had told her recently that, "I just don't talk much any more."  I told my sister that Mam-ma's jaws never stopped flapping the whole time we were at the party!

Before we left, the grandson Mam-ma had insulted told her that when she turns 100, he plans to throw a party for her at their resort, which is lovely.  Mam-ma assured him she would remind him in a couple of years... and I have no doubt she will do just that!  This is a loving, warm, very friendly family... they just don't know what they have gotten themselves into! 

This is Mam-ma Polly with Ms. Lois' brother, Grimm Magness, who is 90.  He was a schoolmate of my paternal grandfather when they were boys.  Mam-ma really had fun seeing him again.

Mam-ma had told me she wanted to eat and leave after the cake was cut at 1:30.  At 2:30, as most people were leaving, I whispered to Mam-ma that perhaps Ms. Lois was tired and too polite to leave as long as she still had guests.  Mam-ma said, "Well, I guess we ought to go, then."  The grandchildren were already talking about the 102nd birthday, and something tells me we might be returning for it next summer!