I wish I could be a perfect caregiver, but there is so much to do. I have to remember that none of us are perfect, therefore it's okay not to be perfect. I am far from perfect anyways. I do the best I can do, and that is okay!

My mom rarely will tell me what happens at her home, at the times I am not there. Lately, I have been told two things that have happened on her own time away from me. I am so used to her rare and crazy stories that it doesn't surprise me anymore. I'm sure to others it can be an eye opener. I will tell one story now and write the other separately.

One night this week, we were talking about the pink soft throw blanket that she uses to sleep on the couch downstairs in the basement. Yes, that is right! She sleeps on a couch in the basement and prefers that over a bed. She uses a pink throw blanket and that is it, and couch pillows for her head. I have tried to get her to sleep comfortably on a bed, but to no avail, she always ends up back on the couch downstairs.

The point of my story is that she told me that one morning it was freezing cold and Tiger's ears were really cold when she woke up. She shook herself like it was really cold. I had to ask her if she turns her heater off at night. She told me that she turns her heater off at night to go to sleep. I asked her why she does that. She pointed downstairs to the furnace and said because that is so loud and acted like I was crazy for not knowing that. I asked her "don't you wear ear plugs at night". (She always wears her ear plugs at night) She told me "yes".

I explained to her how important, in this cold weather, it is to keep the heater on. That night the temperature was going to be 10 degrees. I knew and could tell when I was talking to her it was going in and out of her head as fast as I was talking. I got in the car to go home with Paul and told Paul this new information I learned. We turned around while driving home to go back to my mom's house. She had already turned the heat off and had gone to bed on the couch. We contemplated on what to do and how to confront her without making her upset.

It usually takes at least two people for her to listen. We told her to keep the heat on so she doesn't get sick. She agreed that she didn't want to get sick. We also told her so her pipes don't freeze. She agreed to leave the furnace on that night.

We hope and pray we have got it through her mind that the heater is important to have on in the winter time. I have been reminding her to leave her furnace on every night.