Dear Queenie,
My parents have been married for more than 40 years. Dad had a job that kept him very busy and Mom was a stay-at-home mother to us 3 kids.
Now that Dad has retired he stays at home all the time because he has health problems and Mom doesn’t want him going out alone, but she won’t let him help around the house because she doesn’t like the way he does things and she is all the time nagging him to do things her way.
Queenie, is there any way we can help them?—Worried daughter
Dear Daughter,
This kind of thing often happens when couples get older and one or both of them retires. Your mother feels “invaded” and your father is depressed without his job to keep him busy. And health problems just make matters worse.
Take them out to dinner, cultural and/or sporting events, depending on their individual interests. Perhaps you can get them interested in some of the senior programmes that are available. And if either or both of them is/are well enough, there are various organisations that would welcome them as volunteers for as many hours per week as they are willing to donate.
