I get frustrated by my mother sometimes. She gets these down days and she seems to think everybody else in the family should be drug down to her level. Today is a fine example.
It's Father's Day. My Dad retired through disability after hurting his back at work. For a long time, Mom just couldn't understand why all he would do was sit in his recliner and sleep. After injuring my own back, I came to find out exactly why. Unless you have had a major back injury, you take for granted exactly how many things in life stress your back. Walking, bending, lifting, even just sitting in certain types of chairs put unbelievable stress on the back. The back is a very large part of the body's structural system and when it gets sore and tired, your body is sore and tired and you tend to want to stop doing whatever it is that is aggrevating it.
To make a long story short, Dad's back has recently flared up to the point where he has pain running down to his toes. This isn't a fun feeling. How would I know? This is how my right leg gets everytime I stress my back. Mom wanted to rent a boat for Father's Day. We own a bass boat but the time it takes to get ready to go is a problem. Not because we don't want to take it out, more often than not, its Mom who presses to take it out. Does she say something a couple nights before so that we can get it ready? No. She waits untill I get home from work and whines that we should take it out. By the time you get it hooked up and ready to go, poof! You've got an hour on the water at best. Anyway, Dad's back isn't up to standing or sitting on a moving boat, so that was out. Whine #1.
Then, she got the bright idea of driving to Warren, PA to go out to eat with realitives. If sitting is a problem, riding on a bumpy boat is a problem, I do believe riding in a car for 2 hours one way then home again is probably not going to be on top of the list of things to do either. Not to mention, the relatives we would have gone to do not keep their house cool and their furniture isn't the greatest for a bad back. Dad wasn't up for that either. Here comes Whine #2.
We went out for lunch, which in itself was a challenge for him, then came home. He fell asleep in the recliner. I had the Nascar race on. She began moaning about nothing to do. When her nerves start to bug her, she gets really antsy and hates sitting around. She commented more than once about going an seeing a friend out the road. That would have been fine with Dad, he was comfortable and really wasn't interested in going anyway. Finally, he woke up and grumbled that if she wanted to go she could go, he didn't mind. Yes, you guessed it, Whine #3.
I'm really glad I didn't do what I planned on doing for Farther's Day. I was going to buy us tickets to the Nascar Race. It was in Southern Michigan which is only a 4 hour drive. With Dad's back bothering him, the rain that ended up cutting the race short and the whining by Mom, I probably would have left someone along the roadside somewhere. Probably me!
Happy Father's Day to all. Best Wishes of Health and Happiness to You!
And to all the whiney mothers today, here's some cheese.
