earlier chat with mom a few days ago:
Mom: I wish I could take a picture of the flowers and send it to you.
Flip phone - no pics or texting, which she wouldn't know how to use, even if she did have it.
Last night (it was a 45 minute conversation):
Mom: hey - can I take a picture with my ipad mini and send it to you? The flowers have opened up so pretty.
me: oh, ya, that's a good idea!
me: oh, ya, that's a good idea!
Mom: ok, I click on camera?
it's showing me in the screen
Me: click on the little camera up in the right top corner to change the camera view
mom: oh, ok, got it. Do I just push the red button to take the picture?
me: no, red means you are taking a video, the button should be white
mom: my button is red
me: do you see where it says video, photo, square?
mom: no there is nothing like that on my screen
me: (looking at my own ipad mini) it should be right below the button to take the picture
mom: no, I don't see anything like that. Just a little camera up in the corner
me: ya, that's the camera you just tapped to change the view so the camera wasn't looking at you
me: hmmm...ok, well I guess your button is red so tap it to take picture
mom: ok, I think it took, now what?
me: now open photos.(which of course I had to explain how to do)
mom: ok I see it
me: do you have Facebook messenger?
mom: do I have what?
me: ok, open Facebook
mom: oh ya, there's this thing about I have messages but I don't know how to read them..
me: ok, tap on that then
mom: messenger has moved do you want to install?
me: yes
mom: it says "get"
me: Yep, tap on that to install it
then a whole long conversation about why it's not installing.
mom: do I tap on info?
me: no GET, then install. Ok, lets try this. do you send emails from your ipad?
mom: well, you know I'm not sure if I ever have
me: ok, open your email compose an email and type in my email address. ok do you see a paperclip thing?
mom: no, just a plus sign
me: ok, well you need a paperclip because that's how you attach the photo in the email
ok, let's try messenger again
this time install works, but of course pops up she needs to enter her apple id password
which of course she does not know.
mom: it might be on one of my slips of paper........
me: that's why I try to use the same password for everything
mom: oh, well maybe I used xxxx9999 (not her real password LOL)
me: try that
mom: no, it's invalid
me: it might need a capital X, my apple password starts with an uppercase
me: it might need a capital X, my apple password starts with an uppercase
mom: oh ok, let me try that. Does the arrow in black with the line mean it's caps?
me: well that means your caps lock is on, all the letters will type
cap, just tap it once to make it solid black with no line under it and
type the X
mom: well, I can't get it to work. is the arrow solid?
me: when the arrow is not filled in it's lower case - your keyboard
shows lower case letters. When you tap it once to make it black it's
upper case, your keyboard changes to uppercase. When you tap it twice it
locks the keyboard in uppercase.
mom: well, I can't get it to work
me: ok, let's just have you make a post on your facebook and I can see it that way. open facebook again
mom: well, it's on something weird, I don't know what all this is. Settings something.
me: tap on newsfeed. near the top, above everyone's posts, do you see "what's on your mind" next to your photo? (Every single time I have tried to help her with Facebook over the phone, I swear I cannot figure out what she is looking at - nothing she relays to me is anything like I see on Facebook)
mom: no, don't see that. I see my friend liked something about a bear with bees
me: ok, right above that it doesn't say "what's on your mind"?.
mom: no it says share photo and check in
me: tap on share photo (whatever that is!)
whatever that was it's not working either
me: ok, try tapping on your name/photo in upper right to go to your wall. do you see "what's on your mind" now?
mom: no, but I see photo
me: ok tap on that
mom: do you want to allow access to your photos?
me: yes, allow
mom: oh, I want to allow?
me: yes, you do
mom: now it's in settings something about enable photos
OOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!
somehow she gets to her photos.
mom: ok, I see my flower picture but it's moving
me: that's because you took a video, not a photo, when you see your photo is there an arrow in the middle of it?
mom: yes there is
me: that means you took a video
so back to camera we go to try to take a photo
back and forth again about how she should see "modes" time lapse, video, photo, square. Now, for some reason, she can see the mode options and FINALLY gets it to take a photo
back to Facebook, where she gets same message of allowing photos
and she still apparently has absolutely no way to actually make a post on her
facebook page
finally she said she would just take it to my DD on Saturday, when she goes to see her new house
I laughed my butt off! That is how my father in law is. I am always sitting at the computer getting it to "work" when I visit. Hilarious!
ReplyDeletelast visit I was at her house I of course had to check out all her computer problems, but then she couldn't exactly show me what the problems were, LOL
DeleteYou have so much patience!
ReplyDeleteDH walked into the room mid conversation and I pantomimed like my head was going to explode haha!
DeleteI am the "mom", and it's not so funny from our end of things. A lot of older people aren't even trying to learn to use technology. So, even though we find it hard, we are at least trying.
ReplyDeleteMy DD always reminds me I'll be that mom someday too LOL. We didn't have to go through this with my grandma - she never tried to learn any of it in the first place ;)
DeleteI cracked up at this post ! My mom... love her so much. And she's smart as a whip at almost 80, but every stinking' time her computer acts up or my brother sends her email she calls...
ReplyDeleteMOM: Honey, are you busy?
ME: No mom, whats up?
MOM: Your brother sent me pictures on my email and it won't open.... again!
ME: Mom, put your cursor where it says "download now"
and so on..... you get the picture... LOL
Then proceeds to say.... "I love you honey but you never show me anything on this stupid thing!"
She cracks me up! :)
LOL. Even when I sit down and show my mom how to do the stuff, then she will just say "oh, well never mind" - after I've gone through the whole process!. She's very scatterbrained so hard for her to retain stuff like that.
DeleteLaughing because I live this every single day!
ReplyDeleteI really don't think I could do it every sing day!
DeleteReminds me of my dad. He constantly has trouble with his phone and is forever telling me that it takes time to learn these things. Um, at 89 years of age, I hope it doesn't take him too long. lol
ReplyDeletethat's why I do not encourage my mom to get a smart phone LOL. She's fine with her little old flip phone
DeleteLol! At least your mom does not get frustrated and hang up on you! Mine does sometimes :)
ReplyDeletenot yet, she hasn't. LOL. If she turns feisty in her old age, like her mom did, I'm in for trouble.
DeletePeople, write it down for them. I am 70 and mostly have stuff mastered except for the brand new android. Also, senior centers and the library will help people with this. But, tell your parents to write it down. Or, better yet, tell your senior to take a notebook and pen and to write it down so they can understand later, no matter how long it takes to write it down.
ReplyDeleteYou can only get them to do what they want to do...LOL. My mom has each password to each login on a separate little scrap of paper. Each one a different password, too. I don't know how many times I have said "mom, please write all these passwords down on one list and try to use the same password when you can. It will make your life so much easier." Plus there are a couple of her slips of paper where the password or user ID is what the heck I don't even know. She didn't write down what program or website it's for. They aren't valid and I have told her to throw this one out....the next time we are having to go through her slips of paper, there they still are. Sigh.
Delete