Mom needs grocery delivery to home. Are their services in Los Angeles Co., where she can call, and tell them what she needs?

In my town, at my usual grocery store, it is regular to see a 'shopping companion' helping the elderly ladies do their grocery shopping. They work up and down the isles together, drive for the ladies, and help her with what she can't do easily and let her do what she can. Its really a nice and cost-effective social outing which provides some normality and feeling of control to the clients.

Call mom's Council on Aging or senior services number. In our area, depending on income, one can get a few hours assistance a week for "whatever." In your mom's case, that could be grocery shopping...maybe even some lite housekeeping thrown in.

Barring that, I'd suggest you and mom sit down and make a list of all the things she's Likely to need at the store, numbered, with a place to check mark the actual items she wants at the store once a week.

Then, I'd take that list to a smaller independent grocery store very close by, ask for the store manager, show him the list and ask if your mom could call once a week and order by item number from the list...and, of course, have them delivered. For a fee.

Tlc, you have no idea what "tone" is inside someone's head when they are typing. The tone and the sarcasm are all inside of you.

This caregiving is a long haul journey. People here are genuinely trying to help, and we find humor to be a good tool. Please try to see that.

TLC1977, I know the first time I was on the on-line grocery ordering website, it took me several hours to get everything set up... it was a learning curve trying to navigate the software. Now I have my parent's grocery list saved in an on-line account. So now I can quickly [if one calls a half hour quick] go through their list, and there is always a bunch of new items I need to search for, or substitute which my Mom didn't like... she wanted her brand as anything else tasted funny :P

I know for myself caring for my elderly parents was a totally new experience, mainly all trial and error until I came to this website.

Sorry if I sounded rude when I had first answered you, one tends to get harden dealing with the elderly and I prefer to tell it like it is without any sugar coating.... it has helped me deal with this new journey a lot easier.

I have lots of mottos: Her is another one: You (the daughter) have to learn to suspend your own agenda at lots of times in the process. It gets down to the simple form. Clearly Mom wants groceries and does not have a way to get them without you going out and getting them. So the agenda is to locate another option or two or three and try them. What she buys, which list, what the final answer is...maybe you can't tell for sure. The success is in the trying. Try.

TLC, my grandmother back in the 1930's use to do that, call in her grocery order but back then there weren't thousands of products on the grocery shelves. Inventory was probably in the low hundreds. And a kid on a bike would deliver the groceries for a 10 cent tip.

With the thousands upon thousands of grocery items in today's stores, it would be quite time consuming to take an order over the phone. I know it takes me awhile just to do the on-line grocery service and here I have photos, sizes, and a lot of brands to choose from with one click.

Put yourself in your Mom's shoes, what would happen if you couldn't drive to where you wanted to go, like work and school? It would be a great impact on your life, right? I would make time.

Oh, I really doubt your Mom is bored all day unless she has a cleaning service that comes in weekly to do all the cleaning and all the laundry. And the hundred of things that one does to maintain a household.

You sound quite young, you mentioned "never thought I'd have another person who lean on me for almost everything".... do you have children yet? Surprise.

I needed a shopping service for myself (in Los Angeles area) when my husband was out of town. I ordered through Envoy.com and was very satisfied. There is also Instacart but I haven't tried that. Yes, the first order took a very long time, but I couldn't go to the store myself. I am feeling better now but am planning to use Envoy again. I suspect it will get faster to do as time goes by.

FreqFlyer, Wow! I find you extremely sarcastic, and rude!!!! Well, at least your reply was. I could've sworn this was a online support group. Not a place to judge people, you clearly don't have the whole story on. If I'm not mistaken, I believe you've given me great advise before. I could be mistaken, given this response. Please do everyone a favor, and give comments that support people. Not ones that judge, and tear people down. That's not why we come here. We need assistance; not judgement!

Thanks,
TLC

Since your mom doesn't want to learn the computer stuff, can you make a basic shopping list that you can repeat every week or month and then add a few items as needed and order that online for her?

I do all of my mom's shopping in person, but I know what she needs on a pretty regular basis. You can do it online pretty quickly once you get the general schedule set up and understand how quickly your mom uses things. I feel good when I get my mom's pantry full-to-the brim, because I know I don't have to worry about it for a while. So look to buying in bulk and buying ahead, so your mom always has something she can make. Frozen foods are great for that.

Does your mom use a computer at all, like could she check off things she wants you to order for her? Or does she stay away from it all together? How old is your mom? I know around here they have senior classes for computer stuff if she's at all interested in learning.

I also used to volunteer to go with a person (a blind man in my case) weekly to get his groceries for him. He'd go and then I'd unload them into his kitchen. You could also explore to see if something like that exists where your mom lives. This was through a church group, even though I didn't belong to the church.

Personally, I think that was a good victory on the Von's delivery, and not all that long to get it done. I have taken quite a bit of time to do what should seem fast for Mom at so many times that I no longer judge myself by the clock. I feel like you are going to be successful on this one step at a time. I am glad you didn't get total resistance from Mom, she might be able to see the point that staying independent means adapting and not only pushing your kids to work for you.