On giving advice

I have some advice to give.  (drum roll please)  Don't give advice!  LOL  Seriously.  It is not worth it.  My mom called last week. She rents an apartment in a state a couple hours away from me.  Her name came up on a subsidized housing list. She looked at the unit and hated it.  It was too small.  Apparently my mom can not survive in anything less than a 2 bedroom unit.  As a single person she can not rent a two bedroom unit with subsidy.  But they kindly showed her a lovely 2 bedroom unit and told her she could have it for $850 a month.  Likely that is the fair market section 8 rent in her locale.  I know my mom's income as i helped her fill out the application for subsidized housing.  This rent, exclusive of utilities would take 50% of her income.  She asked what I thought.  I told her I thought the unit sounded lovely and had amenities that were very attractive but that it was not the best idea to spend 50 per cent of your income on housing.  Also as she is retired, there was no reasonable expectation of her income increasing in the foreseeable future. (as a side note, I have worked in subsidized housing for 31 years)  Hell hath no fury like a mother whose dream apartment has been thwarted.  I have had venomous emails ever since.  All about how unsupportive I am , how I don't understand the problems in her present place (this would seem to ignore the fact that I tried to help her move this summer and she said she wanted to stay there!) etc.  It is not pretty.

And to add to the joy, she is visiting this weekend.  if she is nasty around my kids I'll probably blow a gasket.  I can take her being mean to me.  KC has a teddy bear birthday party planned and invited her so she had best show up with her stuffed animal prepared to have fun.  Or else!  LOL  Gifts have been made for the bear and tonight we are maknig the tiny valentine cupcakes that bear requested for his party tomorrow.  We will use KC and Lissa's tea set and have iced tea in our tea cups and all the stuffed animals are invited to come as well.  Hopefully the fun that my kids generate will mitigate her ill humour.  She leaves early Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon, K's family is coming to exchange Yule gifts.  Then on Monday a friend we haven't seen in ages is coming to lunch.  It will be fun.  Like Jean Luc Picard used to say on the Star Trek show "make it so."  (grin)