PSA for DU'ers with elderly parents

[nadinbrzezinski]

I knew I had to go to Mexico City for mom's surgery. (It went great by the way). So I took a Webcam for her, and installed SKYPE on their computer. Yes, SKYPE has a few issues, but your parents will thank you. They will be able to see you, and talk to you. That is worth the pain of training them on how to use the technology.

So if you have elderly parents... do them a favor, and give them a webcam if they have a computer and install skype for them. Trust me, the smile in their faces will make it worthy.

[niyad]

1. so glad to hear the surgery went well--can imagine how relieved you are.

the skype thing is a wonderful idea (imagine that, after that scene in "it's complicated", skype is going to get a LOT of new members!!

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. We got a twofer with them

mom's surgery was planned, but dad ended up in ANOTHER hospital over the same two days...

Oy, good thing we were down there.

I even got lost in Mexico City... and got to drive the Periferico on the way back with dad. So instead of twenty minutes, we took over an hour to get home, at night. That city is a mess to drive in.

[Nikki Stone1]

2. Hey Nadin. Are you back?

?

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Yeah I am back had fun flying yesterday

oy.

[Nikki Stone1]

17. I'll bet.

How was the airport?

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. Here you go, I even blogged about it

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7340413

By the way Phoenix was late so I did make my connection... no, not a line at TSA checkpoint.

[virgogal]

3. Hmmmm! I'm the elderly parent but now I have a hint-hint for Mother's Day.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. Yes you do, and if you need help

I'll help you with skype

My mom is 80, so we literally did this from one room to the next until she got it.

[virgogal]

12. Thanks----I'm 77 so will probably need help. Glad your Mom is

doing well.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. We learned together

I had never used it either. Just a word of warning, if you are using two computers in the same room to learn with, the interference is really bad over a wireless that is. I am sure on a land line no problem. You need about 10 feet minimum for the systems not to go haywire on you.

[virgogal]

14. I have one Dell notebook and Broadband and that's quite enough

for me to handle. :-)

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. I brought my netbook along

and I was pleasantly surprised to find out it had a mike apart of the camera.

It is just simply polite, in my view, to bring my own computer. We also installed the wireless for her oh two trips ago. We all use the damn wireless every time we go down there. Funny, the brother who lives down there, and chief reason for the wireless, refuses to use it.

LOOOOONNNNGGGG STORY.

[virgogal]

16. Thanks so much for all your help----my tech I.Q. is abysmal,but

I manage.

My "kids" do very well,of course,and it's like breathing to the grandkids.

[proud patriot]

4. I wish I was in a postion to do that

My Grandma is just about 90 and she emails I bet she would love skype .

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. SKYPE is free, and if you do not have

a webcam, it can also handle just audio

Also AOL Messenger does that now.

I just updated all the sofware on her ancient computer.

[Warpy]

5. I had big plans for my dad

I bought him a laptop and taught him the basics. He never did figure out how to do anything but play solitaire on the thing, never signed on to the AOL I'd loaded, never figured anything else out. I think he was afraid he'd break it or something.

Skype only works if you've got parents who warm up to the technology.

But yes, it could be a godsend. I had to diagnose things over the telephone.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. My mom uses just what she knows how to use

We do maintainance every time we go to visit.

I know how hard it can be, spent a good three days, over the last week, training her on how to use it.

Yes, she is afraid of breaking things too. Hell I was at eighteen.

:-)

[katkat]

19. my Mom and I

I taught my Mom how to use a pc over the phone when she was in her 80s. It was great fun for both of us.

From years ago when I used to teach beginning computer users when hardly anyone knew what a computer was, I learned to first tell them, you cannot possibly break the machine unless you drop it on the floor or something, don't worry about that. Anything you can do by typing in, we can fix.

[nadinbrzezinski]

21. I've dropped a computer and broken it by the way

last trip, netbook met floor... I had to replace it. Ahem motherboard cracked.

We told her same, and we fix hers every so often.

[Warpy]

22. Yeah, I tried that

I vaguely remember telling him the only way he could screw it up was by throwing it into the swimming pool.

He just never warmed up to it.

[WonderGrunion]

8. Glad to hear your mom is doing well.

My brother and I got a webcam for our parents when they retired to Florida a few years ago. They love being able to see us online. They even got to see snow at Christmas without getting cold.

[That Is Quite Enough]

18. What an awesome, sweet idea.