Stop. switching. phone companies.

You know how RM had a knack for being a particularly aggressive talker when I was most tired and busy, when I most wanted time for myself? Not once, he would decide that he wanted to chat right after I'd spent the better part of the weekend running around--forgive the cliche--like a chicken with my head cut off. His special timing powers even worked for individual evenings--say, after an especially crazy work day, when I'd just spent the last few hour or so tidying up or running errands and couldn't wait to sit down and read or watch TV.

I'm wondering whether he learned it from mom?

I just got back from a barbecue that was over a half hour's drive away. On they way home, I stopped at the mall to get a wedding present, and then stopped at a grocery store, because I'm seriously running out of food. I was busy all day yesterday, and this evening I need to prep food for the week, make cookies for a work event, do laundry, and vacuum. I came home to find a message from mom. It sounded pretty urgent, so I called back right away.

Mom: YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS! IT'S JUST UNBELIEVABLE!
A.: What??
Mom: I got this bill from RCN...
A.: [Sigh.]
Mom: They accused me of not returning the equipment, but I did. I have the receipt! We have to write letters!

To make a long story short, I listened, and told her to call them tomorrow and we'd go from there. I tried to make clear my stance: I will help her rid herself of the unfair bill. We will take the path of least resistance to that end. We will NOT turn this into a cause, and write letters for the sake of writing letters. I mean, she can, but I won't.

I was feeling guilty last week about how impatient I can be with my parents. The feeling was intensified after I volunteered with a family that invests considerably less in the education of the children than my parents did in mine. Both of my parents spent a lot of time teaching me things, and I especially remember how, when I had trouble with math, my dad would come home from work, Barron's book in hand, and explain stuff until it made sense. And now I snap at him because he's not as quick to figure out his GPS system (mind you, my snapping isn't because he's not quick to figure it out, but because he doesn't listen when I try to help). But that's still no excuse to snap.

Similarly, it's not that I don't want to help my mother with her phone company issues. As I've said a gazillion times, it's not the helping--it's that she doesn't meet me half-way. She doesn't help me help her. And we're not going on a crusade for consumer justice; we're just disputing her bill.