This afternoon, I heard my letterbox rattle. As the postman had already made a delivery, I assumed it was one of my neighbours delivering a Christmas card. Having gone to investigate, I realised it was a hand-delivered card from my mother.
My mother has osteoarthritis, and knowing that it would have taken it out of her to walk from her house to mine, I decided the least I could do was open my front door to say, "Thank you!" She informed me that she was on her way into town. However, I could tell from the expression on her face and the tone of her voice that she wasn't in a good way. I also knew that if her visit to town didn't go well, this would make her worse.
Goodness knows what possessed me, but I suggested that if she was willing to come in and wait for me to have a bath and get dressed, I would accompany her. From the moment she set foot inside my house, my mother barely paused for breath. Whilst I was busy trying to gather things together that I knew I would need, she was trying to show me something on her mobile phone. I knew that if I didn't get a wriggle on, my mother would still be sat in my house hours later, and I would have not only lost the will to accompany her into town, but the will to live as well.
Within minutes of us leaving my house, my mother checks to see if she's got her bus pass... A bus pass that she has only had a matter of weeks, and hasn't been used. To her horror (and mine), she cannot find it. I hurriedly walk back to my house to check that my mother hasn't left it there. Anticipating that this news will result in my mother bursting into tears, I tell her not to worry and that I will cover the cost of the bus fare, thinking that the reason why she cannot find it is because she has probably left it at home.
My mother has other ideas and decides she wants to retrace her steps... back to her house. There is no sign of the bus pass, so goodness knows where it is. Approximately 2½ hours later, I manage to escape the clutches of my mother, thinking, "That was a [bleep] waste of time!" In addition to my mother now being in even more of a stressed-out state, my supply of spoons needs replenishing.
If there is a silver lining, it is that I think I will sleep well tonight. Physically, I feel drained, and mentally I feel like my brain has been replaced with cotton wool. 