Momma Is a Shopper!

Here is how it always worked in our family, daddy made the money, momma spent it. I once told daddy that he spoiled momma and now he had to live with her. I was wrong, we are all suffering from the "spoiling". Momma has always managed to one up everyone with whatever they owned. Silk Christmas trees came out, momma had two; a friend collected Emmett Kelly clowns, momma bought the entire series with one purchase; I painted my cheap living room paneling, momma painted her expensive Windsor pine paneling; teapots, they cover the wall in the kitchen; perfume bottles, too numerous to count. Are you getting the picture.

The dilemma we are now facing is that daddy's income stream has reached the retired status. Fixed income is a new phrase that momma can't wrap her mind around, nor one I imagine daddy has ever uttered to her. First it was the Yorkie dog. We were all surprised that momma wanted a dog considering we never had a name brand dog nor was any dog ever allowed in our home. There was one instance where she let Rover in after she ran over him, She didn't explain that act of kindness for years. After all it was a fleeting moment of compassion for a yard dog that was never to be repeated. The Yorkie dog came with a price tag of $1,000. That did not include the cage, the dog carrying handbag, the girl dog blankets she made, etc, etc. Although I don't think daddy would have told her no, he did think she was only charging $40 on his charge card. That alone would be a testimony for a hearing aid advertisement. So here my parents are with a dog in the house, well not really in the house, she kept it in it's cage in the foyer. Poor dog. It's life was cut short by a premature spay. We assumed momma was out of the dog business. Nope, she went right back and bought another $1,000 dog. This one was on daddy because he knew the price this time. Did I mention that he can not say no? New dog, male this time so it would not have to be neutered as it would have no opportunity for a sexual encounter. He did get all new bed linens because he could not sleep on pink girly blankets. Momma does not have to look far to find something to buy.

Momma is an optimistic purchaser. She bought a new car when she was 85. She had her kitchen completely gutted and remodeled with new everything, including appliances. The kitchen is still brand new as she got accustomed to eating out during the remodel and has never cooked another full meal in the new kitchen. Now she discovers her friend has had some company come in and replace her existing tub with a handicapped walk in shower. You guessed it, she is getting two handicapped showers. Her friend paid $6,000 for her shower so even though she has had no estimate, not to mention looking in to other contractors, she is asking daddy to pull $30,000 out of their money market account to pay for the job. The increased in price? She wants handicapped toilets. She must be purchasing them though a government contract. I am just hoping that they use these new showers and not follow suit with the kitchen remodel. If so, there is a truck stop with hot showers close to the Cracker Barrel.

Long term planning must not be in her vocabulary. Perhaps that should be done while your parents are still making good decisions. Our dilemma is how can we save them from themselves? It is their money. We hope it can out last them.