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Elderly parents
Original poster

How often do you ring your elderly parents?

95 replies

Chunkymenrock · 23/01/2021 20:01

Every Sunday I ring my Mum and Dad for a good chat, so once a week. We also might email once or twice a week too. They are elderly but healthy and perfectly self sufficient. I'm just curious how often people ring theirs, after having a conversation with a 68 year old, whose 3 children each ring her 3 times a day!

OP posts:
MintyCedric · 23/01/2021 20:23

Mine are 81/82 and I'm helping care for dad atm so I'm round there 5 days a week. On the two days I'm not, morning and evening...sometimes midday as well depending on how things are on the morning call. If mum's having a rough day we can speak 6 or 8 times during a day.

Prior to that I spoke to mum on the phone every day. Tbh it was/is a bit much but the circumstances are what they are and I'm an only child so...

RedRosie · 23/01/2021 20:23

Mine are in their 80s ... I speak with them twice a week (usually one phone call and one zoom call). Although we also text/WhatsApp.

They are far away and I get twitchy if I don't hear from them for a couple of days. We haven't seen them since between lockdown one and lockdown two.

Tanfastic · 23/01/2021 20:18

My mum only lives round the corner so I see her at least once a week and we are in touch on messenger or FaceTime in between. My dh only speaks to his dad once in a blue moon but they aren't particularly close and he doesn't live on his own.

Emeraldeyes20 · 23/01/2021 20:17

Every single day, I love my mum and enjoy talking with her. Just one phone call can make a huge difference to elderly people . It’s not a chore it’s a privilege

LaBelleSauvage123 · 23/01/2021 20:17

Pretty much daily but only since lockdown - before that it was once a week. My dad isn’t a chatter!

Sandybanana7 · 23/01/2021 20:15

Daily . Sometimes more. Adore the pair of them ❤️

daisypond · 23/01/2021 20:14

Mine are lonely and bored in lockdown now, like all of us, I suppose. They look forward to it.

Aurorie11 · 23/01/2021 20:14

My 82yr old Dad, every day sometimes more than once

DelurkingAJ · 23/01/2021 20:14

I ring DM about once a week. We have an active WhatsApp chat (with DSis) and I would fret and ring if I didn’t hear from her for a couple of days. She’s in her 70s and lives alone but (pre COVID) had a more active social life than we do.

middleager · 23/01/2021 20:12

I speak to my mother daily, she's 74 but lives alone. Father weekly, 76.

FIL, 83 and MIL, 76, weekly.

daisypond · 23/01/2021 20:12

I WhatsApp mine, late 80s, every day, but only since covid times. Before that, it used to be a phone call about once a week.

Heybeendyingtomeetyou · 23/01/2021 20:09

I Video chat DM, 70, twice a week.

DH spoke to his elderly father in his early 80’s anything from every other day to sometimes 3/4 times in a day as he got more lonely. Ranged from ‘how shall I cook this?’ to ‘the Netflix has gone off again, how do I fix it?’

HollowTalk · 23/01/2021 20:09

I think it's different if they are well and have each other for company. If they live alone and/or aren't well it's different.

SnowFields · 23/01/2021 20:08

FaceTime probably half a dozen times a week, WhatsApp and email multiple times a day. Very rarely actually telephone though.

CMOTDibbler · 23/01/2021 20:08

Before my mum wasn't able to talk on the phone, we spoke twice a week (7pm Wednesday and Sunday, as we'd done since I was 18 and went to uni), but as she'd got worse, dad would phone me up to 5 times a day. My brother would go weeks and weeks between picking up the phone, or answering dads calls so I bore the brunt of supporting him

Original poster
Chunkymenrock · 23/01/2021 20:08

Yes, it isn't elderly, I agree. I think I meant retired parents really.

OP posts:
Chicchicchicchiclana · 23/01/2021 20:07

I speak to my 89 year old Mum once a week. It was about once every 10 days or fortnight pre-covid. However we are not close and it is all duty calling.

NovemberR · 23/01/2021 20:07

I phone mine every week, roughly, if I haven't heard from Mum first.

I'd probably speak to her for ten mins or so every five or six days. They are both in their 80s and quite healthy. She could phone if she wanted to but isn't particularly bothered. (Dad is very deaf and finds the phone difficult)

pink1173 · 23/01/2021 20:07

I FaceTime my parents every day. They are mid 70s. I consider my mum to be my best friend and I love their company. I thoroughly enjoy my daily chat with them.

EmmaGrundyForPM · 23/01/2021 20:04

68 isn't "elderly"!

My mums 78, I ring her or she rings me once or twice a week, and we exchange a few WhatsApp messages. My PiL are 88 and 93, dh phones them every couple of weeks but they aren't very close, never have been.

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