Can’t hurt, might help. It’s the sort of thing he might muse on later.
FYI- the meals on wheels that we set up for FIL age 94 (still driving). The Meals on Wheels were the ones that discovered his stroke. Something didn’t seem right and they went back a second time that day and he was on the floor and they called the ambulance. We paid for both my mothers and FIL meals on wheels (separate state).
On a separate note, for some odd reason if we paid for things- MOW, frozen meals, takeouts, etc. it did not bother either of them. Parenting your parents is an ongoing challenge. We ordered the meals on wheels for my mother when she started loosing weight.
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The next time you are at the grocery store with your FIL, can you act surprised and say something like, wow, your whole chickens are $2 less a lb here than back home. Or, jeez, you are sure lucky with the prices of your produce, what a deal! Maybe even buy a few things to take home with you, to show what a “deal” they really are. It may be a small white lie, but one that I would have no problem telling in your position.
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You might want to order the Meals on Wheels for him anyway, after you’re gone. He wouldn’t want the food to be wasted!
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That’s an interesting idea. I wonder if it would work… we’re not shopping with him this trip since we brought stuff for Easter and beyond, but I might actually plan it that way for our next time here.
True, but H will not deliberately do something he’s asked about and been declined. His dad would be furious. Their relationship together is more important. His dad is of sound mind - still does math without a calculator, still can win at games without a “senior discount,” loves Sudoku, etc, so it seems wrong to override his wishes.
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The Meals on Wheels organizations vary. At least some of them have a sliding scale. I think my low income mom paid $1.50/day. (It was a great service - I sent generous Christmas donations to them.)
After Dad’s wife broke her arm, I set it up for them in NY. I assume the charge was full rate. It seemed a good deal - $6 per weekday per person for a big meal and a sandwich meal plus milk, fruit etc. I paid the first 10 weeks (total $600). After that they were settled enough to call and arrange their own preferences. I think they picked partial schedules, since they complained about getting too much food.
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Maybe point out that his tax dollars subsidize Meals on Wheels and he may as well get what he pays for?
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You can point out that full pay meals on wheels customers help pay for those who can’t afford to pay, which I believe is the model that applies to many nonprofits.
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I’d be very concerned about an unintended 10% drop in weight of a person who is otherwise healthy. That’s a significant amount and I’d be especially concerned about loss of muscle mass.
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This would not interest his dad in the least. He only has one charity he’s willing to donate to - a club he belongs to. Telling him his tax dollars help pay for it might make it more palatable at some point though.
We’re definitely concerned - which is why I’m on here looking for suggestions to help him overcome his depression era mindset. He’s had it all along, but he could find cheap coffee, chicken, and shop sales. Now that many of those things are too costly for him in his mind, something has to change.
If he still loses weight with going back to his regular diet, then it’s more worrisome, but he did just have a routine doctor visit complete with blood tests, etc, so we’re thinking diet. He’s not getting many calories. We’ve changed that since we’ve arrived. We need to leave Tuesday. We’ll leave him with quite a few leftovers and things we brought, but didn’t use, so hopefully that will help.
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What about sending a case of vanilla or chocolate Boost every other week? They taste decently and provide a good amount of calories. And you can get them with extra fiber if needed, too.
Our S21 even asks us to send him some regularly to his dorm for a quick boost (pun unintended) when he’s studying, etc.
Your dad might like them?
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Great idea! Boost or Ensure, especially the high protein versions, could be very helpful. Our family has had to rely on various ones over the years. In one case, I added a drop of almond or peppermint extract to a bottle then put it in the freezer for 30 minutes before serving, but others found the taste was just fine.
I hope you can find ways to supplement your FiL’s diet without upsetting him. Good luck!
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I don’t know if he would drink those drinks or not. My mom despised their taste. I’ve never tried one myself. He drinks water and coffee (at home this is very watered down to save money) - and in the summer unsweetened tea.
?
They are good when nice and cold, and taste better when drinking them quickly versus lingering.
I know that doesn’t sound encouraging but honestly, both my teen boys drink them and recognize they are great for a quick boost of a cold protein drink when they aren’t quite hungry for a meal but need something to focus or to get through a task
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My D drinks the protein drinks. They’re 30 grams of protein per container. H and I prefer to split one drink. (Large quantities can cause constipation.). Since he likes coffee, he may like the latte flavor one—H and D really like it. The vanilla and chocolate ones are pretty tasty as well. D has difficulty getting enough protein without the drinks.
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We find the drinks more palatable cold but they aren’t bad at room temperature as well. At Costco, they’re under $2 apiece, which is cheaper than many other protein options and could be included in a flat rate care package. They don’t require refrigeration and have a screw top so if you only want part of it, it’s easy to save the rest for later or another day.
I like the taste of the drinks better than the protein bars. Granola bars are mostly sugar and carbs and not much protein. D had tried many protein supplement options and so far finds the drinks the most convenient and palatable byte brand she is currently drinking is “Premier Protein.”
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New subject: Recycling.
Every morning I have a yogurt and I rinse out the cup before putting it in the recyclables. It occurs to me that I’m probably using more energy by rinsing it – clean water, sometimes hot – than is being saved by recycling the cup. So what’s the purpose of the recycling – just to keep the plastic out of the landfill?
What number is on the cup? Some are truly recyclable and some aren’t.
In general, we want to keep plastic out of landfills and if they get recycled into other things, it also keeps new material from having to be made. That said, not nearly enough plastic that can be recycled is reused due to lack of demand. That’s why we Creeklanders make a point to buy things that are made from recycled materials (eg Organic Girl uses 100% recycled plastic in their salad containers, plus the plastic horse fence we bought is made from recycled plastic, our picnic table comes from recycled sneakers and more if I recall correctly - it’s been a while since we bought it etc).
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Freeze meals for your dad in divided containers (you can get them at Walmart or Sam’s). Two veggies (canned or frozen) and a meat. Pulled pork, beef or chicken (I’d buy a rotisserie chicken and portion it) with gravy work great (stove top dressing freezes great too). You can make your own or buy ready made and just portion it. Label the container. With half cup servings of whatever is in the container it only takes 2-3 min to heat the meal.
Get the little MW hamburgers–White Castle makes some.
Get pound cake, slice it in it’s container and then freeze it so he can get individual servings. Buy ice cream that comes in individual cups. Pudding cups. Fruit cups. Get MW sausage for him. Buy the thingies to MW eggs in so breakfast is super easy. Toaster waffles or frozen pancakes. And then assure him he can eat to his hearts content and somebody will refill it for him. (You can reuse the divided containers by the way–they are also recyclable).
I’m sure your dad is perfectly capable of making a meal for himself. Mine was too but he sure as shootin’ wasn’t doing it. He’d work at everything else and either get so involved he forgot to eat or wore himself out so cooking was too much of a chore no matter how simple. Eating just wasn’t a priority. It’s important to just get calories sometimes–hence the ice cream and pound cake (my dad’s favs–cake slices freeze really well also as do most pies). And it wasn’t lack of appetite–he’d eat great if someone else fixed it. Hence the frozen meals. You can buy ready made TV dinners but they are just loaded with salt and honestly you can make your own much cheaper and much healthier.
We also loaded him up with paper plates–anything to make cleanup close to nonexistent.
We had looked at MOW for him but decided we could freeze healthier meals for him less expensively and could give him his favorites.
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