You Be The Judge

 Mr. BoJangles here. Things around here have been pretty strange. Like suddenly Mom and Dad have exchanged roles! That would be like me and Dora changing places. I would never want to be in water all day long and I doubt she could appreciate my activities. 

Mom could not get up and walk around very much and Dad had to get things for her. Like food and drink. He also took over some of her chores. Like feeding us dogs and cleaning up any messes we made. Let's just say that he is not one to jump up quickly to attend to things. He likes to wait and make any effort on his part worth it.

He finally took Mom to a doctor, and she got better. This was a huge relief for Toni and me. Dora, too, as far as that goes. Dora missed her chats with Mom while she took food from Mom's fingers.

Mom was a lot better and taking her tasks back from Dad. They both got up early yesterday. Mom always gets up early, but not Dad. When I saw Mom get in the shower, then get dressed, I wondered if maybe we would be headed out to our path to go for a walk. That would have been a welcome treat. Then I saw Mom get the big jar of peanut butter out of the cabinet.

That is a clue of what is to come. I knew we were going to be left behind. Mom always feels guilty when she leaves us alone, so she always smears peanut butter on our lick pads and gives them to us just before she leaves. She is not tricking anyone with this maneuver. She thinks we won't know when she leaves. Oh, we know, we just don't care for as long as the peanut butter lasts.

But now comes the strange part .... or is it strange? You be the judge. For nearly two weeks, Mom could only walk from the bed to the bathroom. She could not sit with us on her loveseat and cuddle us. Eddie didn't mind so much, since he was in bed with her. He said he was guarding her from me and my rambunctious attempts to help her feel better. She does not need his efforts, he just likes to feel important.

So, while Mom was what Dad called "out of commission" he was at her beck and call. Sort of. Sometimes he would pretend he couldn't hear her, or said he thought she was asleep. I think he tired of taking care of her. Let's face it, he is not what one would call eager to tend to others.

With that in mind, this is what happened yesterday. They came home with stuff in bags, so I know they went to a store. Mom bought some plants, and she was quite happy to go putter around in her garden and dig some holes for her new plants. Dad parked himself in his recliner and started moaning about his knee.

Mom came inside and put a pain patch on his knee. She noted that it wasn't swollen or hot to the touch, so she ruled out gout, even though he complained quite loudly that he thought it was gout. He was mashing the pain patch down on his know while he launched his refusal of her diagnosis. He moaned a lot. She told him that just because he ate some shrimp not long ago and they did not trigger an attack was not a good reason to start adding them to his diet in a big way and if it was gout she had warned him about all the wrong food he routinely indulged in and said it was his own fault.

Wow, Mom is on a roll. Us dogs made ourselves scarce while we listened. Sometimes it is better not to be seen during these episodes. But here's the deal: now Mom is waiting on Dad! I think he planned this! There is evidence!

First of all, there is no swelling. Mom said so. Second, when Mom was hurting, I could see it in her face, and she stayed down. Not him, he keeps walking around with a cane that he probably doesn't need! Mom even shared her pain pills with him! Us dogs think that maybe his knee does hurt, but not as much as he says it does! You be the judge, what do you think?