Calling All Mother-in-Laws
Several years back, my husband’s siblings all got together and got my mother-in-law a cell phone. For the first couple of years, she simply didn’t use it because she couldn’t figure out how it worked. The family felt it would be useful because she did a lot of babysitting and walked everywhere she needed to go and felt that if something should happen, she would be able to call for help. In theory, this was a great idea. In reality, she couldn’t figure out how it worked and most of the time, left the house without the phone.
This past Christmas, while she was visiting, I took her cell phone (yes, she actually brought it with her), cleaned it, set the ringer, checked her voicemail, and reviewed all of the buttons with her, again. Unfortunately, she still doesn’t understand how it works. There are many days when she refuses to leave her house because she thinks she might miss a call, even though we’ve explained time and time again that she can take the cell phone with her. She also can’t figure out how to check her voicemail, so it’s pretty pointless to leave her a message. It’s been somewhat frustrating for all of us.
I’m going to talk to my husband about getting his mom the Jitterbug cell phone. The phone has large buttons and is very simple to use. It comes with 24 hours customer service. She could just press a button and be connected with a real person (other than me) that can tell her how to answer her phone or how to dial it. I think she would welcome the idea of being able to really use her phone and not be afraid of all the technology.
Do your elderly parents have trouble using a cell phone?
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