....take over her bill paying, and then giver her an allowance. Not knowing whether or not a financial Power of Attorney has been conferred, I'd be hesitant to recommend taking the responsibility of discharging another's debt. What would that mean? Paying out of your own pocket? Sign her checks for her? You can't legally sign another's checks without the granted power to do so. Perhaps the least intrusive and easiest thing would be to have her son's name added to her checking account. Even though my brother had my Mother's financial POA and took charge of asset management, etc., I had the responsibility of keeping up with the everyday things. I simply had my name added to her checking account when she was beginning the slide into Alzheimer's and getting farther and farther removed from taking care of her affairs. I seem to recall it was nothing more than a quick visit to the bank, signing a paper providing my SS#, etc. and ordering a new set of checks. I also understand what it is to try and engage a senior in other activities - sometimes it's just not in the cards. Either they're not joiners by nature or as they age there's a certain fear in trying new things that are a little outside of their comfort zone. My Mother gave up playing golf with the local ladies league at age 85 and we never could come up with something/anything even remotely close to replacing the enjoyment she got from that. From what the OP has written, it does seem her MIL is just aging and that bad habits are becomming magnified; she doesn't quite recognize her spending habits as unusual or that she's being taken advantage of by her sister. It might not be any one of the dementias one could put their finger on right now. It could be in the future.

Cloud Swift - I think your bread looks great! It may be what you are using to score the tops (or how deep), but there looks to be really excellent ovenspring as well. Scoring is another huge debate item. Angeled (30°) cut, use a lame or a blade, using scissors or a knife - the experts spend a lot of time on the subject... I also think the "poke test" for dough should go the way of wearing hats and gloves in church! I might also add thumping the bread to test it for doneness should also get a second look. I prefer to actually KNOW if it's done by using an instant read thermometer. Some breads really need that extra 5-10°F to BE done, and a "thump" doesn't give that information. It's brown, doesn't cut it either. I use agave nectar, and honey gives the same false "brown enough to be done" look. Both contribute to early browning - much sooner than the loaf is actually done. A dough rising bucket will help new/infrequent/hesitant bread bakers make better bread because they can actually tell when the dough has doubled - NO GUESSING. An important part of successful breadmaking. I also set a timer to check the dough in the dough rising bucket. When I bake I WEAR a Polder Timer around my neck (I've been known to wander outside and get distracted while waiting for dough to rise...;-) These may seem like piddly details for the experienced bread bakers, but there are more questions about "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BREAD - AND HOW CAN I FIX IT" than details about successes on this site. If an inexpensive plastic tub with a lid can make a failed breadmaker a successful breadmaker, WOOO HOOO! As far as the final proofing goes (panned or free-formed) - it takes all five senses to make good bread and our eyes have to be our guide at this point. Over- or Under-Proofing Panned Breads: 1. An incorrect amount of dough placed in the pan to begin with is a prime suspect for over- or under-proofing panned breads. It's the fear-of-the-scale problem. A standard loaf pan (1-1.5# dough) and a 9x5-inch loaf pan (designed for quick breads) are not the same volume. If you put 1-1.5 pounds in a 9x5-inch loaf pan (which can accomodate 2#+), you may allow it to rise way OVER double to fill the space. If you put 2# of dough in a standard size bread pan it will be easy to under-proof it, or you can end with a mushroom and a lot of shredding on the sides. If I place more than 1# of dough in my Pullman pan, as soon as the dough hits the oven and I get a good amount of ovenspring, the additional dough will quickly seep out any crack in the Pullman pan lid. This is a "MUST SCALE THE DOUGH" loaf. I also scale dough amounts so that I have equal amounts in each pan that bake in approximately the same amount of time to nearly the same size. I scale the dough for hot dog buns, hamburger buns, dinner rolls, etc. The scale is my friend! 2. The next mistake comes when people think they need to allow the dough to rise to the size of the finished loaf - this is over-proofing. The little rule-of-thumb: The dough log is approx. 1/3 the size of the finished loaf. You allow that amount of dough to rise until it's approximately "double" the dough log size - which accounts for 2/3 the size of the finished loaf. The ovenspring (the amount the dough continues to rise after it's in the oven) accounts for the last 1/3 of the size of the finished loaf. After you are familiar with a certain recipe, you'll know when the dome of the rising dough is about 1-inch over the edge of the pan, it's doubled. You'll use little signs like that to guide you, but that doesn't work all the time on all recipes.... With formed loaves it's a little trickier - hydration and human error play into this, as well as the type of bread. Many aren't supposed to "double". -Grainlady

You have taken on a real challenge. You are probably going to enjoy teaching these two people. Teaching can be rewarding, or it can be ... something else. Sometimes things go wrong and it can become really draining. I think it depends on the diligence of the student. When they are motivated, it doesn't seem like a chore at all. I am not a professional educator. I have simply taught many different people many different things that I know how to do. Another topic: My friend said she wanted to learn how to hand quilt. She has knitted and crocheted while I have sat next to her and hand quilted and hand appliqued. Many times. She was on vacation recently, so she was able to come to the LQS for the sit and stitch group. I thought we'd finally sit still and get down to business. I had everything ready to show her how to hand quilt. But instead, she got totally overwhelmed. She had to look at everything in the store. Then, she fell in love with a few of the samples, and said she wanted to make those. Small projects, but using completely different skills from hand quilting. She took the free instructions for these small projects. OK, she can tackle those projects AFTER she learns to hand quilt, I figured. Then she asked about classes. She bought a rotary cutter and a mat. Bottom line: We never got around to the hand quilting demo. She couldn't focus on one thing at a time. I'm not saying anyone else is necessarily going to be that way. But I did learn that sometimes, it is the teacher's job to chop off just a little piece of information, just ONE skill, and tell the student that s/he is going to learn just that one little bit before they try to learn anything else. So you might want to figure out what is the most basic skill. Start with that. Make it into a completed project. The smaller the better. Design something that doesn't take much time to make, but will teach all the necessary skills. Then proceed to something that uses those skills, plus new ones that the student can learn, a little at a time. Just an idea.

I took beginner lessons years ago. Then 4 of us from the class decided to meet once a week to play. One aft. noon we were to meet at my house and at the last moment one of the gals couldn't come, so I called Hubs at work (he was the boss, and could leave if he wanted) and he came home to be our 4th. Now, Hubs is a very good Bridge player, and when one of the gals bid. one-something, he immediately raised it to slam in her suit, and she had to play it. The poor gal.....she looked like she was going to pass out. She did well, and made the bid. Personally, I'm just not a good Bridge player. I don't have a good enough memory for it, and I too like to chat while playing cards.